The papers chase: aggressive recyclers are finding new ways to fill the demand for secondary fiber - 2002 Paper Recycling Supplement - paperless society still far in the future; paper mills seek secondary fiber as feedstock

Recycling Today, Oct, 2002 by Brian Taylor

As depicted in science fiction films and television programs, the world of the future seems to be curiously devoid of paper.

Yet as the 21st century moves forward, new high-volume paper mills continue to come online in places like China and India, while in the U.S. office printers continue to crank out documents and alternative newspapers compete with the traditional dailies.

The fax machine, e-mail and the World Wide Web have taken their bites out of print-on-page communication, but the use of paper is far from a relic of the past.

Currently, paper mills remain hungry for secondary fiber as a feedstock, and aggressive recyclers are beating the bushes to roust up the fiber they need.

HELPFUL REMINDERS

The climbing old newspapers (ONP) recycling rate in the U.S. indicates that municipal programs have helped recyclers keep this grade moving toward mills.

Additionally, Michael Sullivan, a general manager with Abitibi-Consolidated Inc., Houston, says residential recycling program managers can increase their haul by taking old magazines (OMG) along with the ONP they're already collecting.

Speaking to attendees of a session at the National Recycling Coalition (NRC) Annual Congress, which took place in mid-September in Austin, Texas, Sullivan urged recycling coordinators to add OMG to the mix.

With the ONP recycling rate in the U.S. having zoomed from 30 percent in 1990 to 65 percent in 2001, recyclers and mill buyers are looking for additional furnish. Sullivan says the feedback from most mills is positive toward including OMG. "They like it," he remarked.

Papermaking and recycling consultant Bill Moore of Moore & Associates, Atlanta, says machinery at many pulping mills has been modified to take in OMG as a feedstock. "Prior to about 1992 there was a different technology (at mills) that couldn't tolerate magazines," Moore told Recycling Today. "But flotation de-inking requires 10 percent to 30 percent magazines in the furnish."

According to Moore, many residential collection programs need to be modified to catch up with this technological change. "A lot of the collection programs started before this demand for OMG came about," he notes.

The potential for OMG collection growth is considerable, said Moore. "ONP might be recovered at 65 percent, but the OMG rate is still less than 30 percent," he remarked. "In an average pack in a residential program, OMG runs only 3 percent to 5 percent. Given the opportunity and enough education, the typical household could produce a 15 percent OMG rate. That would satisfy most mills' need for OMG."

While magazines may be sought after, Sullivan noted that boxboard is still unwanted, at least at newsprint mills. "Our biggest quality issue comes from boxboard in the mix," Sullivan told the NRC attendees.

Referring to boxboard in the mix and other single-stream collection issues, Sullivan remarked, "Newspaper publishers are pushing us for quality, and the recycled sheets are having trouble keeping up. As an industry, we can no longer be lackadaisical about ONP quality."

According to Moore, emerging paper grades are also allowing aggressive municipal progams to harvest more scrap paper. Moore credited Seattle as a city where municipal officials are pushing haulers to tap fully into the commercial generation pool--especially in segments not traditionally served by independent packers

"I think it's a natural," says Moore. "The small commercial segment is an under-recovered area. Big plants and stores are recovered, but what we don't get are strip malls and multi-tenant office buildings. It's hard to set up and talk to so many small tenants. But if they can pack all their grades into one dumpster and make a commercial mix, that's a natural. And it's a pretty good grade for containerboard mills, as well as paper board and possibly tissue."

A company Moore credits for its aggressive approach is Visy Recycling's Conyers, Ga., operation. Visy Recycling executive vice president Jeff Kibler and his staff procure material for Visy Paper's Conyers mill. "The company has a philosophy to be completely self-sufficient; to collect as much paper as we can at the generation source," says Kibler.

"One of the things we did is bring some technology from Australia (Visy's corporate home) that lets the mill run OCC and mixed grades as feedstock. We also run corrugated medium and liner on the same paper machine," he notes.

The unique pulping technology allows the company to collect mixed grades that save time and sorting for generators. "We are trying to do our best to collect 100 percent of our own paper or have it under contract. One of the ways to accomplish this has been aggressively collecting mixed paper.

"What I came up with is a program where we're aggressively out there collecting mixed paper consisting of anything that tears, including phone books and magazines. If you can tear it, we can take it is our motto," says Kibler

The company has been calling on businesses of all sizes, "from nail salons to carry-out stores to large generators," explains Kibler. Visy is currently running 32 trucks collecting 7,000 bins placed throughout the Southeast, in markets such as Tampa, Jacksonville, Charlotte, Nashville, Birmingham and Atlanta, with all material except excess OCC going to the Conyers mill, according to Kibler.