The increasing use of flexographic inks in the printing of newspapers is raising concerns regarding their suitability for recycling. If ink removal processes are dependent on flotation then the amount of flexographically printed old newsprint (ONP) in the furnish is maintained low due to the hydrophilic nature of these inks. In order to characterize deinking efficiencies of flexo containing furnishes a variety of laboratory deinking experiments were performed in which a significant portion of the furnish was flexo ONP. The use of a specialized chemistry, of a novel surfactant and of hard water were some of the parameters studied. Results show that with proper chemistry it may be possible to achieve high deinking efficiencies of furnishes containing large amounts of flexo inks.
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