Deinking Chemistry

Tea Hannuksela, Kemira Germany GmbH Scott Rosencrance, Kemira Chemicals Inc.

Content
Introduction................................................................................................................. 1 Deinking chemistry ..................................................................................................... 2 Traditional deinking chemistry................................................................................. 2 Neutral and low alkali deinking................................................................................ 3 Surfactants ................................................................................................................. 4 Fatty acids............................................................................................................... 6 Synthetic surfactants............................................................................................... 7 Blends ..................................................................................................................... 8 Other deinking aids ................................................................................................. 8 Emulsions ......................................................................................................... 8 Modified Inorganic Particle (MIP) ........................................................................ 8 Enzymes.............................................................................................................. 8 Factors to consider when choosing deinking chemistry.............................................. 9 Recovered paper furnish......................................................................................... 9 Wood-free papers.............................................................................................. 10 Deposits and catalase problems ........................................................................... 11 Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 11 References ............................................................................................................... 11

Introduction
Recovered paper composition usually includes fibres, fillers, fine material and often ink. When present the amount of ink is only around 2-5 wt% of the recovered paper. The primary goal in the recycling of recovered papers containing ink is to selectively remove the ink relative to the solids present in the paper. Theoretically, if a paper only contains 2-5wt% ink then the overall yield in deinking could be 95-98 wt%. The yield is normally between 60-90% depending on the paper raw material and deinking process used thus enabling a variety of specialty chemical and mechanical solutions to favourably influence ink removal selectivity. A wide variety of recovered papers are deinked. Each of these recovered paper grades has differences in both fibre and filler characteristics. For instance, old newspaper (ONP) is mainly composed of bleached mechanical pulp fibres or recycled fibres while old magazine (OMG) usually also contain some bleached chemical pulp. Mixed office paper (MOW) is almost exclusively bleached chemical pulp. Inorganic solid or ash in the recovered paper can range from about 10-40% depending on the paper grade. This ash can be present as either a filler or a coating. The most common fillers used in paper and coating is calcium carbonate and kaolin (clay). Based on the combination of recovered paper being used and the desired final pulp requirements a variety of different deinking processes may be utilised. Flotation deinking tends to be more selective than wash deinking and thus results in higher yields. The selectivity in both flotation and wash deinking can be dramatically enhanced by utilising one or more specialty chemicals. It is well understood that flotation and wash deinking are dominated by different physico-chemical properties and as such the two processes usually require different types of chemicals. In wash deinking, the removal mechanism is largely based on the size of the particle to be removed. More specifically, the probability of a given particle successfully navigating a mat at a given consistency and porosity increases as the size of that particle decreases assuming the ink particle does not become so small that it then can destabilise and reattach in some manner to the fibre surfaces. Based on this mechanism wash deinking tends to be enhanced by addition of surfactants that efficiently assist in detaching ink particles from the fibre substrate as well as then dispersing the detached ink particles. Therefore, hydrophilic surfactants (higher HLB) are generally used to assist with detergency and ink dispersion. In flotation deinking, the released ink should also be detached from the fibre substrate and dispersed in order to avoid redeposition. However, in flotation deinking the probability of removal of an ink containing particle is driven by a combination of size and surface energy. In flotation deinking a certain amount of agglomeration is preferable as the removal in flotation deinking is dependent on the size of the particle. The optimum size range is often stated to be between 50 and 150 micrometers. Size alone however is not sufficient, additionally the agglomerates should demonstrate surface energy properties that are more hydrophobic than wash deinking in order to allow for stable attachment and transport by air bubbles. 1

The proper selection of deinking chemistry is often a compromise between costs and performance. Some mills do not use deinking chemicals but on the other hand use a more expensive and higher quality recovered paper to reach a certain target. Other mills save costs with the recovered paper by using a lower quality furnish and then use deinking chemicals. One of the large production costs for a deinking mill come from the recovered paper. The costs for pulping chemicals are often around 10-20 /t and bleaching may be the same or up to double the amount depending on bleaching dosages and sequences. Recently due to increasing chemical, energy, and pulp prices mills are exploring new ways of saving costs using new concepts for recycled fibre processing. Some chemical suppliers offer neutral deinking where chemical costs in the pulper can be saved in addition to other process and chemical benefits. Due to the complexity of the entire recycling process and the inter-dependency of each process step, it is not sufficient to only look at the pulper or flotation stage but rather the entire process.

Deinking chemistry
Traditional deinking chemistry
Deinking chemicals are generally added to the pulper (Lassus 2000). During pulping the recovered paper is slushed into a pulp at high consistency. The combination of chemical and mechanical action is favourable. Additionally, by dosing early in the process to the pulper the reaction time is increased as well as the more effective dosage of some chemicals as the result of a high consistency. Figure 1 shows a schematic layout of a typical deinking process for the production of pulp for graphical grade paper. Often all deinking chemicals are added to the pulper, but sometimes some or all of the deinking aid can also be added to the flotation cell.
Deinking chemicals - NaOH - Water-glass - H2O2 - Soap/surfactant Deinking chemicals - Soap/surfactant (optional) Bleaching chemicals - H2O2 - Water-glass - NaOH - Chelant (optional)

Pulping

Cleaning & Screening

1 Flotation loop

st

Thickening

Dispersing/ bleaching

2 Flotation loop
Deinking chemical - Soap/surfactant (optional)

st

Thickening

Bleaching

Cleaning & Screening

Storage tank

Bleaching chemicals - H2O2 - Water-glass - NaOH - Chelant or - reductive bleaching (dithionite, FAS or Borino)

Figure 1. Schematic layout of a deinking process for the production of deinked pulp for graphical grades showing possible addition places for deinking and bleaching chemicals. 2

A variety of deinking aids exist. In traditional alkaline deinking these aids are often composed of fatty acids and/or non-ionic surfactants. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is also added for reasons such as ink detachment and ink dispersion. It is commonly believed that ink detachment is improved using sodium hydroxide both because of fibre swelling effects as well as chemical hydrolysis of some bonds between the substrate and some ink species. The pH at the exit of the pulper is often between 8.5-10.5 when deinking a newspaper/magazine furnish. In systems utilising a fatty acid containing deinking aid the level of water hardness can be important. Often a source of calcium such as calcium chloride is added to the process in order to ensure that the fatty acid soap is converted to its insoluble calcium-salt, which is believed to be the preferred speciation of fatty acid for ink collection in flotation. Target levels of calcium are often on the order of 100-200 ppm. The alkalinity present in traditional alkaline pulping can induce unwanted yellowing of the fibres. In order to offset such yellowing and associated brightness losses hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is often added to the pulper. In some systems one or more chelants are added to improve the peroxide bleaching efficiency by rendering detrimental metal ions inactive with regard to unwanted peroxide decomposition. Finally, sodium silicate (or water-glass) is commonly used. The role of sodium silicate is complex and includes complexation of some detrimental metals and contribution to pH buffering in some circumstances. Water-glass also helps in stabilising the released ink so that it does not redeposit on the fibre surfaces and contributes to ink particle agglomeration and flotation efficiency. Finally, in many situations water-glass tends to depress the removal of filler during flotation. The bleaching effect of hydrogen peroxide in the pulper is generally limited and the conditions are usually not optimal for such bleaching. As a result it is normal to postbleach the pulp following deinking. This bleaching can involve either hydrogen peroxide bleaching (oxidative) and/or hydrosulphite bleaching (reductive). Typical reductive bleaching agents also can include formamidine sulphuric acid (FAS) and Borino (alkaline sodium borohydride + sodium bisulphite) (Vahlroos et al. 2008). Reductive bleaching is performed at a neutral pH. Figure 1 also shows some typical positions where bleaching can be performed such as pulper, disperger or post bleaching.

Neutral and low alkali deinking

A new trend for certain processes and mills in the deinking of newspaper and magazine based raw materials is to move away from traditional alkaline deinking and towards lower pH levels which are commonly referred to as true neutral deinking (pH about 6.8-7.2) and reduced or low alkali deinking (pH about 7.2-8.8). Often these desires are driven by chemical cost savings and/or environmental factors. In true neutral deinking only surfactant, usually a blend of different synthetic surfactants, is added to the pulper (Rosencrance et al. 2005). In reduced/low alkaline deinking sodium silicate is also added in addition to the surfactant. Another, usually less successful approach, has been adding sodium sulphite to the pulper along with a deinking aid (Lapierre et al. 2004). Chemical cost savings in at least NaOH and hydrogen peroxide and sometimes water-glass and/or chelant are achieved.

Often in all forms of neutral deinking the brightness of the pulp will be lower compared to alkaline deinking due to the removal of hydrogen peroxide from the pulper although ink removal can be very similar once the chemistry is optimised. As described above, pulper bleaching is not optimal for optimum utilisation of hydrogen peroxide (low consistency and temperature as well as competing contaminants). It has, in fact, been shown that this brightness gap obtained using various neutral deinking approaches can be regained if the process contains a disperger or post-bleaching stage with hydrogen peroxide (Vahlroos et al. 2007). This means that additional chemical cost savings can be achieved. Other benefits of lowering pH can include improved stickies removal (see below), lower release of substances into the process water, and lower water treatment costs in areas such as water clarification. Neutral or low-alkali deinking may not work on all paper raw material grades or in all processes and requires strong technical knowledge when converting from traditional alkaline to neutral deinking. Drawbacks of neutral deinking if not optimised may be insufficient ink release, ink fragmentation and lower yield. Mills producing pulp from mixed office waste (MOW) containing mainly chemical pulp fibres often already operate at neutral conditions. These mills often use less deinking aids and can run without surfactant in some cases. With such a raw material, ink removal is not a problem, but rather the presence of larger dirt specks from various printing inks. These specks are usually handled mechanically in a disperging stage and in some situations can be handled using certain specialty chemical additions.

Surfactants
Surfactants are surface active agents. This chemically unique species have a dual character. This character consists of hydrophilic and hydrophobic portions of the chemical structure. In an aqueous environment, the hydrophilic portion is water loving and relatively polar while the hydrophobic part of the surfactant is water hating and relatively non-polar (Figure 2). Surfactants can be non-ionic, anionic, or cationic. For the anionic and cationic species the hydrophobic part normally includes a hydrocarbon chain (-CH2-CH2-) and the hydrophilic part includes a variety of chemical functionalities. These can include entities such as an amine group (-NH3), a carboxyl (-COOH), sulphonate (-SO3), or sulphate (-SO4) group among others. Non-ionic synthetic surfactants generally contain blocks or units of various alkoxylates, most commonly derived from either ethylene or propylene oxides.

Hydrophobic tail - hydrocarbon chain - non-polar chain

Hydrophilic head - carboxyl group - sulphate - other polar end

Hydrophobic block/unit Hydrophilic block/unit

Figure 2. Schematic picture of surfactants. 4

As a result of these unique chemical compositions and the associated thermodynamics when placed in solutions containing surfaces and interfaces surfactants tend to demonstrate unique properties as a result of attempting to minimize the free energy associated with their presence in a given environment. To this end, surfactants modify surfaces and/or interfaces between various phases thus lowering the interfacial energy. This modification of the energetics at surfaces and interfaces allows a number of phenomenon to occur. One such example, is detergency and removal of contaminants from solid surfaces such as printed ink on a fibre surface in paper recycling. One common framework suggested is that this detergency assists a hydrophobic ink constituent to energetically depart from a preferred solid fibre surface and disperse in a hydrophilic and uncomfortable aqueous environment (Figure 3). The surfactant mediates this energetically unfavourable process by altering the surface and interfacial energy thus facilitating ink detachment and dispersion in the water phase thus making possible subsequent separation from the desired fibres dispersed as well in the medium.

Ink on surface (paper fibre) in water.

Surfactants accumulate at interfaces, lower the interfacial energy facilitating release of the ink.

The ink is released and stabilised into the water phase

Figure 3. Release of ink from surface with the help of surfactants.

Because the presence of surfactants in an aqueous environment assist to lower the surface tension of the liquid (water) it becomes possible to produce and maintain a foam. Surfactants have solubilities in the medium in which they are distributed. Typically, if surfactants are sufficiently soluble a concentration can be reached referred to as the critical micelle concentration or CMC. The kraft point is the temperature at which the solubility of a given surfactant equals the CMC of that surfactant. Once the CMC is achieved a series of new physical chemical phenomena occur and as such lead to a variety of unique and valuable attributes. The effect of the CMC is rooted in minimisation of the surfactants free energy in a given system. The CMC depends on the temperature and composition of the aqueous system and is unique for each surfactant and system. Concepts such as micro-solubilisation are directly linked to micelle formation.

Fatty acids
Fatty acids have been used to produce fatty acid salts (soaps) for centuries. These soaps have been used to remove dirt from different surfaces. Fatty acids consist of a long hydrocarbon chain (-CH2-CH2-) with a carboxyl group, typically at the terminus of the molecule. The hydrocarbon chain can be saturated or unsaturated (containing double bonds) depending on the origin of the fatty acid. Saturated fatty acids, such as stearic acid (18 carbons) or palmitic acid (16 carbons) are solid at room temperature while unsaturated fatty acids, like linoleic acid (18 carbons with two double bonds at the 9 and 12 positions) can be liquid (see Table 1). Fatty acid products are normally mixtures of several fatty acids with different structures. Vegetable based fatty acids normally consist in large part of mixtures of unsaturated fatty acids (oleic, linoleic and linolenic acid) while animal based (tallow) fatty acids generally consist in large part of mixtures of various saturated (stearic, palmitic acid) and unsaturated fatty acids (oleic acids). Table 1. The structure of some fatty acids normally found in deinking aids. Fatty acid Structure Short Melting name point
Palmitic acid Stearic acid Palmitoleic acid Oleic acid Linoleic acid Linolenic acid CH3(CH2)14CO2H CH3(CH2)16CO2H CH3(CH2)5CH=CH(CH2)7CO2H CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)7CO2H CH3(CH2)4CH=CHCH2CH=CH(CH2)7CO2H CH3CH2CH=CHCH2CH=CHCH2CH=CH(CH2)7CO2H C16:0 C18:0 C16:1 C18:1 C18:2 C18:3 63 C 69 C 0 C 13 C -5 C -11 C

Fatty acids, being anionic salts of carboxylic acids, demonstrate different properties depending on pH and the presence of various other ionic species present in the solution. In acid form, the fatty acids are nearly insoluble in water but upon addition of alkalinity to elevate the pH the fatty acid transitions to form an essentially watersoluble fatty acid soap. If calcium ions are present the fatty acid soaps form relatively water-insoluble calcium fatty acids soaps. A number of metal-fatty acid complexes and speciations can exist depending on the overall composition of the system. The calcium soaps are good ink collectors in flotation deinking processes. These benefits are the result of the calcium soaps simultaneously impacting both the surface energy and size of ink containing agglomerates. 6

Fatty acid soaps are often formed by pre-neutralisation of the fatty acid in the presence of alkalinity prior to introduction into the repulping system. It is important to also evaluate the entire pulping and papermaking process to ensure that no unfavourable metal soaps, such as calcium fatty acid soap, are contributing to deposit problems. Fatty acid dosages to the pulper normally range between 3-7 kg/t or 2-4 kg/t to the flotation cell. In processes where high amounts of newspaper are used, like in the US, mills tend to use more synthetic surfactants or blends rather than pure fatty acids. This is in part because the synthetic surfactants allow for more controlled and enhanced modification of surface properties especially in the areas of ink detachment and ink dispersion.

Synthetic surfactants
Normally non-ionic synthetic surfactants are used directly or often can be part of a multi-component deinking aids or blend. The most common synthetic surfactants in deinking are ethoxylated (EO) and/or propoxylated (PO) fatty acids or fatty alcohols. These are non-ionic surfactants. Figure 4 shows the structure of some alkoxylated surfactants. The number and distribution (block or random) of EO and PO units determines the properties of the surfactant.

a)

b)

c) Figure 4 a) Ethoxylated fatty acid, b) propoxylated fatty alcohol and c) EO-PO block polymer. The choice of synthetic surfactant as a deinking aid depends on several things. Simplistically, the surfactants are chosen based on both their HLB value and the process temperature as well as the type of recovered paper being recycled. These factors are primary in determining the surfactant properties and application range. Above a certain temperature, the so called cloud point, the surfactant forms a surfactant rich phase which is non-homogeneously distributed in the system thus hindering performance. The cloud point is a collective function of the entire aqueous chemistry and the non-homogeneous phase is fully reversible if the temperature is decreased. Synthetic surfactants when properly selected demonstrate very favourable ink detachment and ink dispersion characteristics. There is not one optimal surfactant that will work equally well in all processes and conditions, but rather each process, or more precisely even every process step, requires different functions from the 7

surfactants. Therefore, tailor-made blends of fatty acids and synthetic surfactants are often the best option (see next section). Generally, synthetic surfactants themselves are more costly than fatty acids. However, the required dosages are also significantly lower. Dosing of synthetic surfactants is generally easy as they are liquid at room temperature and therefore only need a pump for dosing.

Blends
As mentioned above, there is not one universal surfactant that would perform optimally in all processes and under all conditions. Each process step requires different physico-chemical conditions. In the pulper, ink detachment and ink dispersion is crucial. In flotation again ink hydrophobisation, aggregation and collection is important as well as good foam properties. Deinking chemicals should optimally contain chemicals for each of these micro-processes. Fatty acid-synthetic surfactant blends can combine the best properties of both systems into one chemical blend. The dosage of blends depends naturally on their chemical composition but is normally somewhere between 1-3 kg/t. Alternatively, the dosage can also be split with one blend optimised for the pulper and another for the flotation cell. Liquid blends are most common.

Other deinking aids

Emulsions
Due to the difficulty in handling some fatty acids which can be solids/semi-solid at common atmospheric temperatures of interest formation of liquid emulsions and/or dispersions are often made. In many cases the fatty acid is saponified and in all cases the products contain at least one emulsifying/dispersing agent. These agents are commonly non-ionic surfactants. Fatty acid levels in these products can range from 10-50 wt%. Emulsions/dispersions may be used in smaller deinking mills that do not have a saponification unit.

Modified Inorganic Particle (MIP)

In order to improve the collection in flotation deinking systems a new technology has been developed (Rosencrance et al. 2007). This is based on introducing a hydrophobically modified inorganic particle (MIP) to the pulper. The particle will collect hydrophobic substances like ink and not only improve flotation deinking selectivity but also significantly reduce ink re-deposition. This technology is new and has shown very promising results in mill scale trials where very low attached ink values have been observed.

Enzymes
In some mills an enzyme containing additive is introduced. The concept is based on the possibility that some enzymes can efficiently facilitate favourable chemical reactions. For instance, these species can assist in ink detachment from fibre surfaces. Some propose that cellulases and hemicellulases can alter the fibre surface and thus contribute to release of ink. Lipases are proposed to attack fatty acids and

resinous substances from wood and any fatty acid or oil related carriers in the ink while laccase is offered to assist in modifying the lignin on the fibres. Enzymes generally are sensitive to both temperature and pH thus limiting the efficiency in some commercial cases. Additionally enzymes are quite expensive to produce although often the added dose can be small. Certainly, the use of enzymes is an environmentally good option. Additionally strength improvements as well as faster drainage of the fibres have been proposed in some situations after enzymatic treatments. At present, mainly mixed office waste mills are using these products which prefer neutral conditions with a primary goal of reducing dirt specks.

Factors to consider when choosing deinking chemistry

As discussed above, selection of the appropriate deinking aid is based on a multitude of factors. Below are some factors worth considering for the production of deinked pulp destined for the manufacturing of graphically printed paper or tissue. Recycling of board normally does not involve deinking.

Recovered paper furnish

The base paper quality and the printing method are well known to be directly related to deinkability. Two of the most common printing methods are offset and rotogravure printing. Utilisation of water-based flexographic printing is getting more common in some geographic regions. These are conventional or mechanical printing methods. Additionally, digital or electronic printing is of increasing utilisation. Methods such as electrophotograpy (xerographic or laser printers) and ink-jet printing are examples. The components in the printing inks vary among printing methods as does the applied ink layer thickness. Different base paper qualities are therefore preferred for some printing methods. The choice of printing method is also dependent on the final printing quality demand, the cost requirements of printing, as well as number and rate of copies produced. Different recovered paper furnishes demonstrate different issues. For instance, offset inks are known to become more difficult to deink with the combination of time and/or temperature or age. Alternatively, if the furnish contains high levels of flexographically (water-soluble ink) or ink-jet (small colour pigments) printed papers increased amounts of process washing and/or lower pH is often beneficial. Table 2, as reproduced from previous work by Eklund and Lindstrm, shows the composition of the base paper, coating and printing method used for different paper grades as well as the most common deinking method and the use as end product. The values in the table are generalisations and exceptions can exist. Magazine paper is today also produced with increasing amounts of deinked pulp which is not indicated in the table which originated in 1991. The base paper can be either uncoated, supercalandered (SC, smoothened under high pressure) or coated. Newspaper is generally uncoated while magazine papers are often either supercalandered or coated. A high content of newspaper in the furnish leads to a need for chemistry to assist in ink detachment, especially if the newspapers are old or have experienced hot 9

summer weather. Generally, blends or synthetic surfactants work well on such furnishes. Due to increasing prices and scarcity of raw material in certain regions, lower quality raw material is often used. The quality is not only lower, but the quality may vary significantly which requires more flexibility from the deinking aid. Table 2. General information about newspaper, magazine and fine paper (modified from Eklund and Lindstrm 1991).
Raw material Fibre type Newspaper Magazine -SC -LWC Fine paper 100% MP or RCF 50% MP, 25%BKP (SW) 50% MP, 50%BKP (SW) 85% BKP (HW&SW) Filler content (%)* 0-15RCF 0-40CC, k 20-45CC, k, Ti 12-45CC, k, Ti Printing method Offset, flexo Deinking method Flotation DIP enduse News

Offset, roto Offset, roto Offset, electro, ink-jet

Flotation Flotation Flotation, washing

News News, Magazine Tissue

*Total filler amount, i.e. base paper + coating filler content (% of final paper) SC= supercalandered, LWC= light-weight coated RCF= recycled fibre, MP=mechanical pulp, BKP=bleached kraft pulp (chemical pulp), UBKP= unbleached kraft pulp, SW=softwood, HW=hardwood, RCF k CC Ti = filler from RCF up to 12%, = kaolin, =calcium carbonate, =TiO2

Coatings in magazines can contain appreciable levels of dispersing agent which were used in the coating process to assist in dispersing the fillers in the coating. These dispersants are at times surface active and together with alkali can lead to acceptable ink detachment from the coated magazine paper. At the same time these additives can hydrophilise ink containing agglomerates and hinder flotation efficiency as well as contribute to unwanted foam generation and/or stability.

Wood-free papers
Chemical pulp based paper, such as office waste paper, does not demonstrate the alkaline yellowing and is normally not so much affected by pulping pH. The main reason is that chemical pulp fibres are not sensitive to alkali-induced yellowing. Chemical pulp fibres have already been treated with alkali in the pulping process which is why these fibres will not swell to the same extent any more as mechanical pulp fibres, i.e. ink will not be released more through fibre swelling which is why neutral deinking conditions are more favourable for office waste paper deinking. Reductive bleaching is furthermore normally more beneficial for office waste paper compared to peroxide bleaching as the fibre brightness is high (chemical pulp) but colour removal is necessary. Laser printed papers or photocopied papers are, however, difficult to deink as the toner has been melted, fused and bonded to the fibre surface. The toner is generally detached as large flat flakes which are too large to be removed by flotation or washing. The flakes become visible dirt specks in the paper if not removed or destroyed. The flakes are in fact usually destroyed in disperger or kneader units in the process. It is difficult to improve the deinkiability of office paper by chemical means. Sometimes enzymes are applied.

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Deposits and catalase problems

Stickies result from additives present in the recycled paper such as glues and adhesives. These stickies if not passivated (tackiness reduced) or removed can lead to runnanility issues and inefficiency on the papermachine. Neutral-deinking or lowalkaline deinking is one option for such mills. Lowering the pH in the pulper will help in maintaining the stickies particles large (Sarja et al. 2006). These less fragmented stickies are then easier to remove by screens. Chemicals for stickies passivation or fixation also exist, but the preferred option is to remove the stickies from the process in a selective manner such as flotation and screening. Catalase is an enzyme that is produced by micro-organisms (bacteria) as a defence mechanism. Catalase will decompose hydrogen peroxide used as a bleaching agent thus leading to increased cost and/or reduced brightness. Catalase is normally controlled by use of biocides. Removal of hydrogen peroxide from the pulper in neutral or low alkali deinking can reduce the catalase problems in the deinking mill.

Conclusions
The demand for recycled fibre is globally increasing by more than 4% annually compared to around 2% for virgin fibres. This means that more paper needs to be recovered and recycled. As most countries in Europe already collect up to 63% (in 2006) of all consumed paper, this means that the raw material quality will decrease in these regions as also lower quality paper has to be recycled. At the same time higher quality of the final deinked pulp is demanded. A higher proportion of deinked fibre will also be used in especially magazine grade papers. Newsprint is already produced with 100% deinked pulp. Another trend is the lower use of fresh water or higher closure of water circuits in the mills which will also affect the deinking process (higher temperatures, more dissolved and colloidal substances in the process waters, etc.). All these trends signify that more deinking, bleaching and other recycling process chemicals are required to reach the same quality target. This will as a result require more work in order to find new chemicals and concepts that will help recycling mills to save raw material, chemical or energy costs.

References
Eklund, D. and Lindstrm, T. (1991) In: Paper chemistry, Eklund, D. and Lindstrm, T. (Eds), Grankulla, Finland, DT Paper Science. Lapierre, L., Bouchard, J., Dorris, G., Pembroke, C., Allen, J. and Hill, G. (2004) Mill trials on near-neutral sulphite deinking. Part I, Pulp&Paper Canada, 105:2, 42-46. Lassus, A. (2000) Deinking chemistry. In: Papermaking Science and Technology, Book 7: Recycled Fiber and Deinking. Gttsching, L. and Pakarinen, H. (Eds.) Jyvskyl, Finland, Fapet Oy. Rosencrance, S., Ngome, C., Hale, K. (2007) Use of modified inorganic particles in deinking US patent application US 2007/0158039. 11

Rosencrance, S., Horacek, B., Hale, K. (2005) A unique new ONP/OMG trueneutral deinking technology, EXFOR Secondary Fibre Conference, Montreal, Canada. Sarja, T. and MacNeil, D. (2006) Effect of neutral deinking on stickies, PTS-CTP Deinking Symposium, Munich, Germany, 15-1 15-13. Vahlroos, S., Krkk, M., Rosencrance, S. and Niinimki, J. (2007) Comparison of DIP bleachability between traditional soap and reduced alkaline chemistries, Proceedings from 8th Research Forum on Recycling, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, 292-301. Vahlroos-Pirneskoski, S., Knutzen, R. and Niinimki, J. (2008) Basics of Combined Sodium Borohydride and Sodium Bisulfite Bleaching, Tappi J. (submitted).

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