Sunday, October 7, 2012

The Recycling Process In Paper Recyclers And The Products Produced

By Juliette Cruz


Paper recyclers carry out the task of converting waste paper into new products. They play a major role in ensuring that materials that could otherwise be left as waste are transformed into more useful products. Recycling prevents wastage of potentially useful materials, controls the rate at which fresh raw materials are utilized and also reduce pollution of the environment. This generally involves reusing a given product beyond the use it was intended for or producing a new product from a recyclable material.

Materials that are commonly used in the recycling process are cardboard and newsprint. The first step in the process involves the sorting of the recyclable materials based on the amount of processing required. These include magazines, newspapers and office waste which are kept in different stations since they make different products. Things like pins are removed at this stage and those materials with plenty of ink are put separately since they require more work.

Materials used to make recycled paper can be generally split into three categories namely pre-consumer, post-consumer and the mill broke. Mill broke refers to the trimmings and the scraps of paper from the paper mills and their recycling is done in these manufacturing industries. Pre-consumer generally consists of materials from the mills that are thrown before consumers use them. The post-consumer category is made up of the materials discarded by the consumers after they have used them. This category includes old telephone directories, old magazines and corrugated containers.

The recycling process involves the mixing of the materials, chemicals and water in order to break them down. This is usually followed by chopping and heating which further breaks it into strands of cellulose which is a type of organic material in plants. The resulting mixture is known as slurry or pulp. The mixture is screened to get rid of glue or plastic still present in it. This is then followed cleaning, deinking, bleaching and mixing with water. It is now ready to be used for making new products.

The effects of these recyclers are experienced not only where the raw materials are gathered but also where the resulting waste products are deposited after the processing. The process does involve the use of pulp and therefore no felling of trees is done hence contributing to forest conservation. It cuts down the level of energy utilized and also reduces pollution in water bodies and the air. It further reduces the land space occupied by wastes and prevents harmful greenhouse gases and methane from escaping into the atmosphere.

The recycling process results into a wide variety of products used in different areas in our day to day activities. They make printing, photocopying and faxing papers for use in offices. Envelopes, letterheads and flip charts are also part of the wide range of office products. There are also toilet tissues, towels and face tissues among others.

The process produces many products and the best thing is that it uses less chemicals and bleaches and therefore it is relatively less harmful to the environment. It also makes use of less fossil fuel and ensures that only a lesser amount of sulfur dioxide is released to the atmosphere. By reducing the number of trees that are cut down it leads to sustainable environment.

Paper recyclers play a very big role in ensuring that the environment is conserved while at the same time availing a wide range of products in the market at affordable prices. Paper recycling is an activity that has been there for a long time and has proved to be useful all the way. It has contributed greatly towards keeping water and air pollution in check.




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