Deinking for paper

Consumers, companies and governments are increasingly focussing on sustainability. Consequently, it is becoming more and more important that the products you use and consume can be put into the recycling stream to generate new products without downcycling.?

One method to achieve this goal is deinking. In this process, the printing ink and varnish is removed from the paper or plastic waste to produce new recycled material with a higher grade. We at hubergroup ensure that our products can be removed by deinking to be part of a sustainable recycling process.?

But let's take one step back and see how it works.

How does deinking work?

Waste goes into the bin! But what comes next? In this blog post, we shed light on the journey from waste paper and packaging materials.?

We know the first part: Paper and all types of cartons end up in the blue paper bin. Then it's off to the recycler, which sorts the paper waste and separates it into different paper classes. For the sake of simplicity, we won't go into the different classifications in detail, but focus on deinking goods (waste paper class 1.11). This category includes graphic papers with a small proportion of non-deinkable material. This waste paper is purchased by the paper manufacturers and subjected to the deinking process.

Before the actual deinking process can begin, the paper must first be prepared: removing foreign objects, mechanical shredding, and mixing with water. Various chemicals are then added to the waste paper pulp to solve the printing inks from the paper, then air bubbles are added to the process, they help to remove the ink from the fibres and transport the ink particles to the surface, there it builds up as foam that contains the removed ink. The foam now can be removed. This process, known as flotation, can be repeated depending on the desired degree of whiteness of the new paper.

To further increase the whiteness of the recycled paper, the bleaching process can be done. In the end the recycled paper fibres go into the paper machine and new recycled paper can be produces.?

From sheet smoothing to drying and further use, the paper has already come a long way and can now be reused.

Pros and cons of deinking?

As the topic of deinking is currently being discussed from many perspectives and politicians are planning relevant regulations and laws, we asked our hubergroup experts about the known advantages and disadvantages.

Pros for paper recycling

• Water and energy savings with recycled paper compared to virgin fibre paper
• High collection rate of the paper?
• Industrially well-implemented process
• High material utilisation

• Cheaper than virgin fibre up to a certain degree of whiteness

Cons for paper recycling

• Deinking method was developedfor printing inks containing mineral oil – mineral oil inks going to be obsolete in the future
• Low recyclability of the deinking sludge

As already mentioned, this common form of deinking also has some downsides, which is why the industry will face some challenges in the future. In the next step, we present some of these upcoming challenges.

Future challenges for paper Deinking

The decline in circulation volumes in the newspaper and magazine business is a big concern for the recycling industry. Products such as flyers, leaflets, brochures, and books are being printed less. This means that less material is available for the paper recycling process. Furthermore, it can be just as lucrative for sorters not to separate the graphic paper and instead leave it in the recycled cardboard category.

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