Evaluating Repulpapility and Recyclability of a Blend of Post-Consumer Quick Service Paper Packaging Material with Specified Fiber Grades at Readily Available Mill Types Utilizing Newly Developed Standards

摘要

Every year, 4.1 million tons of paper, prepared food packaging~i, is landfilled in the United States. The collection and recycling of this material, in addition to bringing valuable, long fibers onto a fiber-constrained market, would decrease greenhouse gas emissions by ~15 million mtCO_2e~(ii), equivalent to removing 3 million passenger vehicles from the road.~(iii) To facilitate design for recyclability and the development of markets for post-consumer food packaging material, standards to establish repeatable methods for simulating a commonly used subset of repulping and recycling processes to evaluate the impact of repulping and recycling a blend of Quick service paper packaging material (QSPPM) and a specified grade of paper and its placement in specified end products, specifically containerboard and tissue and towel products, have been developed. Pre and post-consumer QSPPM generated by Starbucks Coffee Company and Pret A Manger have been evaluated utilizing these protocols. Based on the results of these preliminary evaluations, the QSPPM tested is suitable for the manufacture of top linerboard and brown tissue and towels.