METHOD AND INDUSTRIAL PROCESS FOR RECOVERING RAW MATERIALS FROM PAPER-CONTAINING WASTES BY MEANS OF IONIC LIQUIDS

摘要

2.1 At present, actual recovery of the materials in their original form from wastes such as, for example, used paper, material mixtures, composite packaging, etc. is possible only to a limited degree, if at all. The cellulose in particular is currently hardly recovered at all from paper wastes as primary material. The present invention provides a homogeneous method in which all three main components, for example of composite packaging or mixtures of composite packaging materials, specifically cellulose, plastic and metal, can be recovered in their primary form and in a quality corresponding very substantially to new material. 2.2 According to the invention, this is accomplished in a solvent-based process. This involves using a suitable ionic liquid for leaching the cellulose out of the paper component of the waste, and this step is combined with other solvent-based steps so as to give rise to a homogeneous process in which both cellulose and plastic and metal can be recovered. In the method, the plastic is likewise leached out of the waste, but with conventional solvents such as hydrocarbons. The metal is removed in solid form. According to the composition of the raw material, the process may afford only one of the abovementioned materials, two or all three. 2.3 Such a method can be used for industrial scale recovery of the abovementioned materials.