Safetywise, Vol. 3, No. 4

Abstract

[evdate 1994-07-15] SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION OFFICE SEPO has received requests for information about recycled paper use at HKUST. In turn we have sought information from local vendors who can supply a certified high quality of recycled paper for use in copy machines and printers. Because of loosely-definedstandards for Vecycled"paper, there are a number of facts about paper, and particularly recycled paper, that need to be understood to make an informed decision on purchasing. For the benefit of Safetywise readers, we will reproduce, in two parts, an article about recycled paper published several years ago in the magazine Garbage (May/June, 1990), written by Alan Davis and Susan Kinsella of Conservatree Paper Company. The first part focuses on the "basics", i.e. the papermaking pmcess, definition of recycled paper, and why should we use recycled paper. The second part, which will appear ii the September 1994 issue, ' will address the quality, availability, and cost issues of recycled paper. Most people assume that paper has always been , madefrom trees. But only since the 1850s have trees been cut and pulped to make paper. For most of its history, paper has been a recycled The first paper, invented in China in 105 A.D., was made from reclaimed material - rags and discarded fishing nets - as well as hemp and grass. The Arabs were probably the first to make paper from I used linen.

L - _ -A -~ -- - -_ -- Rag cutters shredding and sorting rags, circa 1920. (Source: Recycled Papers: The Essential Guide) By the mid-18th century, as the Industrial Revolution gained momentum and demand grew for more paper, European nations scrambled for a dwindling supply of cotton rags and discarded linen. As the "rag wars" intensified, Europeans spent the next hundredyearssearchingforanewfibersourceforpaper. Inventors experimented with fibers ranging from swamp grass to marshmallow to asbestos, until testing in wood-pulping techniques yielded successful commercial processes. Wood fiber became the new, most widely available ingredient for making paper. Over the final decades of the 19th century, paper mills converted to wood- pulping technology. Today, many of us are trying to make environmentally sound decisions in our everyday lives. One choice is to use recycled paper, a high-quality product that cuts waste, pollution, and energy consumption. And it doesn't deplete as much of our forests as do conventional wood-pulping practices. what Is f4?cyck?d palpaf? Today's recycled paper is made from wastepaper generated by paper mills, envelope makers, print shops, homes, and businesses. If the wastepaper has ink on it, it must be "deinked" to separate contaminants from the paper's fibers. The prepared fibers can then be made into new paper. Only the process for preparing the fiber is different for recycled paper. Otherwise, papermaking is essentially the same for both recycled and non-recycled papers. Source: Recycled Papers: The Essential Guide

Recycled paper is not a "different kind" of paper. (High-quality paper is also made from cotton, straw, linen, bamboo, and other fibers.) Recycling simply uses discarded paper as a fiber source. A ton of paper made from 100 percent wastepaper, rather than from virgin fiber, saves 17 trees, 4100 kwh energy (enough to power the average home for six months), 7000 gallons of water, 60 pounds of air-polluting effluents, three cubic yards of landfill space, and taxpayer dollars that would have been used for waste- disposal costs. Source: EPA Journal JulylAugus t 1992 Some recent studies show that paper takes up as much as 50 percent of USA landfills. Much of the wastepaper, if properly sorted, can be reused to make high-grade printing and office papers. But recycling programs are little more than collecting programs as long as there are few buyers for recycled products. If you're not buying recycled products, you're not recycling. Not only does recycled paper protect natural resources, it's also a less toxic papermaking process than conventional practices. The manufacture of recycled paper employs fewer chemicals and far less bleaching. It's also the most ecologically safe way to handle potential toxic materials in wastepaper. Here's the process. Pulping: When fine paper (office and printing paper) is made directly from trees, the pulp is "cooked" in a soup of chemicals, many of them caustic and sulphur-based, to separate lignin from the fibers. (lignin is what gives trees their structure and about half their weight. It also causes paper to yellow and become brittle. Lignin must be removed from pulp that's being processed into most office and printing paper.) Deinked pulp made from 100% waste-paper being pumped into the holding tank. In appearance, there is nothing that readily distinguishes this pulp from virgin pulp. (Source: Recycled Papers: The Essential Guide)

In a deinking mill, wastepaper is dumped into a pulper full of water. The pulper looks and acts like a huge blender. Acombination of hot water, centrifugal force, caustics, detergents, and fine screening and washing separates the ink, clay, and fillers from the paper. Recycling wastepaper does not require the heavy chemicals and chlorine that the wood-pulping process uses, since the lignin was removed when the wood fibers were first made into paper. The caustics used in deinking are not on the US Environmental Protection Agency's list of toxic chemicals. Bleaching: Wood fibers are heavily bleached to erase their color and brighten the whites that you see in copier and printing paper. It's not really necessary for the paper to be that white, but paper mills keep producing bright, white paper. Chlorines whiten printing paper more than any other bleaching chemicals. However, chlorine interacts with the lignins in the pulping process to form dioxins, furans, and other organic compounds. Recycling mills are pulping wastepaper from which virtually all the lignins have been removed, so there is far less opportunity for dioxin formation. Because wastepaper fibers are already whitened, recycling mills use about 75 percent less bleach than non-recycling mills. Most of the recycling mills primarily use bleaching chemicals that don't produce dioxins for residues left after deinking. Sludge: Deinking in a recycling mill is the most environmentally sound way to handle any potentially toxic materials in wastepaper. In the past, inkson the paper contained high concentrations of lead, chromium, cadmium, and other heavy metals that produce color. Recently, toxic agents in inks used in USA have been reduced by the USEPA's standards for ink-manufacturing air emissions and water effluents. When wastepaper is deinked, the ink residues end up in the leftover sludge. About one-fifth of the wastepaper material is drawn off as sludge, which contains not only ink residues, but also fillers, clays, fiber fragments, and other materials. The question now is: How to we best handle potentially toxic ink residues? If deinking sludge meets certain toxic levels, it's buried in a controlled landfill that is specially designed for hazardous materials. However, the sludge from many deinking mills has tested as non-toxic even under strict state regulations, and is prized by farmers as clay-heavy soil conditioner. Recycling doesn't eliminate the solid-waste problem, but it greatly reduces it. We need to exceed even our most ambitious recycling goals. The American Paper Institute's recently announced target of 40 percent paper recycling by 1995 - laudable by today's standards - will barely keep pace with the expected increase in paper use by then. Because of the concurrent projected growth in paper products, the current recycling goal is unlikely to cut even a single ton from the 60 million tons of paper presently dumped or incinerated. Research indicates that paper fibers can be used up to a dozen times. If we bury the paper, we waste landfill space as well as fibers that could have been used repeatedly (and we're also causing more trees to be cut for new fiber). If we burn the paper, we use the energy for combustion, but we waste the opportunity to reuse the fibers. Papermakers used to argue that all paper included recycled material because it contained "mill broke" - the scraps produced in the papermaking process. However, while it's important that these scraps get reused, a mill would go out of business if it didn't use them. The wastepaper that needs to get used, however, is "post-consumer waste" - discarded home or office paper that would have been burned or buried if not recycled. You may think that the term "recycled paper" means that the paper contains post-consumer waste. But there is no standard definition for recycled paper. Many new "recycled" sheets contain only allowable mill and converter waste, which does not requiredeinking.

Source: Recycled Papers: The Essential Guide When mill waste comprises all the recycled content in a paper, there is no real advance for recycling. Mills may argue that if they didn't use these scraps they would landfill them, but the economic reality is that they always are used, and they will continue to be used regardless of how recycling fares. On the other hand, post-consumer waste is not being adequately collected and recycled. (To be continued) I Ext m SEPO Gmarti Enquiry 6451 Occupational Mr. At Clafxy 6509 EOCLANCY Wygienist Environmental Dr. Pete Swearmgen 65fO ECPETE Engineer Safety Engineer &It. T S Li Health Physicist Dr. Paul Ghan 6511 ECT'SLI 6535 ECMWCHAN I I Feel free to call any of us or send us an E-mail il: you have specific s&&y or environmental related questions. Safetywise is puMished by tk !&8&y and Environmental Protfxtion Safetywise is puMished by tk !&8&y and Environmental Protfxtion

Office and printed by Educational Technology Qwtre. Office and printed by Educational Technology Qwtre.

The Hong Kong IJnive&ty of Science of Technology. The Hong Kong IJnive&ty of Science of Technology.

Printeci on recycled paper, Printeci on recycled paper, Comments from alI staff and stud&s are welcome4 Comments from alI staff and stud&s are welcome4 Please send to Please send to

e-maif address EOKWAN. e-maif address EOKWAN.

r From the Editor We devoted a major portion of this issue of Safetywise to Paper Recycling. The focus was on use of recycled paper, which presents the often neglected half of the recycling "loop". To quote the feature article, RecycledPaper--ExplodingtheMyths, recycling programs are little more than collecting programs as long as there are few buyers for recycled products lf you're not buying recycled products, you're not recycling." (emphasis added) In recent years, there has been a noticeable rise of ecological awareness here in Hong Kong. "Environmental friendly" consumer products first appear, then abound in the local market. However, this "bloom" seems to be a little too conspicuous, and people are gradually alerted to the potential of commercial exploitation of the environmental cause. When you are considering to buy recycled products, you must first find out the manufacturer's definition of "recycling", (and for that matter, "environmental friendliness etc) which may very well surprise you; and, what is actually in the product. Recycled paper product is a prime example. SEPO is in the process of assisting General Administration & Committees Office (GAC) in selecting recycled papers that will be made available to HKUST users. We are surprised by the variety of paper products that are claimed to be "recycled" or "environmental friendly". In order to make an informed decision, we conducted some research on the topic, and the feature article is one of the products. We hope you will find this two-part article informative and useful as we do. Going back to the supply side of the "loop", we also published in this issue a revised list of waste paper items that are accepted by the HKUST waste collection contractor for recycling. The final article on occupational health is also somewhat related to paper. Recycling is great, but what about

-- -. -- _ _ C arbonless paper, also known as NCR paper for "no carbon required", is fairly commonplace in today's world. Carbonless paper is often used for the purpose of making typed or hand-written multi-copy forms without carbon paper. Carbonless receipts in the marketplace, especiallythoseforcredit card purchases, are becoming more and more common and actually help to prevent credit card fraud. Some examples of carbonless paper used at HKUST are the Budget Requisition forms of the Finance Office, the ETC Work Request forms, and the Carlingford Medical claim vouchers. The Magk There are basically two sets of chemistry involved in carbonless paper: "CF" for coated front, and "CB" for coated back. In the case of the CB chemistry, the back of the paper is coated with tiny capsules containing a colourless-dye emulsified in an oil-based material which serves as a vehicle for the dye. These tiny capsules are broken by pressure (i.e. writing or typing on the form) and the colourless dye contained inside the capsules is transferred to the CF where the colourless dye reacts with a colour-forming agent which is lactone-based and forms a chemical complex similar to crystal violet. The Headache Carbonless paper has been associated with sensitization and allergic type reactions in some individuals. Some people have reported dermal (skin) problems while others complain of eye, nose and throat irritation and headaches. The sensitization and allergic type reactions associated with carbonless paper are most likely due to the CB chemistry. In the case of the CB chemistry, there are wall-associated chemicals and vehicleassociated chemicals. The wall chemistry typically involves diisocyanates such as hexamethyienediisocyanate (HMDI). HMDI is a strong sensitizer, which means initial exposures followed by subsequent low level exposures can elicit reaction in sensitized individuals. For the CF chemistry, there has been some indications that phenolic resins used for coating paper front may also be sensitizers. I ~ Other Components Until the early 1970s the vehicle for the colorless dyes were polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) which are now regulated as carcinogens (cancer causing substances). Since then PCBs have been replaced primarily by butlylated biphenyls, and secondly by diisopropylnaphthalene. Some carbonless papers contain chlorinated hydrocarbons, and all carbonless papers emit high-boiling point kerosenes and alkylated benzenes which are used as solvents to reduce the viscosity (thickness) of the coating materials. However, none of these chemicals are present in quantities large enough to concern carbonless paper users. DonY Panic . For those of you who are mind-boggled by the lengthy chemical terms, there is no need to panic. The last thing we want is to hyper- sensitize everyone to carbonless paper. In fact some exposure studies have been conducted at carbonless paper manufacturing facilities overseas. Even there, concentrations of the sensitizer chemicals were below the permissible limits. Typical exposure levels in HKUST offices due to handling of carbonless paper are expected to be insignificant. Nevertheless, it is still a good practice to minimize exposure and any possible allergic reactions, especially for office workers who handle large quantitiesof carbonless paperforms. Good ventilation will help to keep the airborne concentrations down, and good hygiene (i.e. washing hands) will reduce transfer of chemical residues from the hands to eyes and sensitive skin. If you have work-related allergic reactions, whether due to carbonless paper or not, you are welcome to consult SEPO.

A recent E-mail sent out to all staff regarding waste paper recycling in HKUST is reproduced here. The list of "DOS and DON'Ts" is slightly different from an older version appeared in an earlier E-mail and the January 1994 issue of Safetywise. that was to attract people to recycle. However, the extra effort needed to remove these items actually force them not to recycle some of the collected paper. Therefore they recently revised the list and grouped these items with "othercontaminants" that should be removed before waste paper is put into the recycling bin. Themost noticeabledifferenceconcerns "rubber bands, paperclips, and staples". Previously the contractor classified these as "OK" under the "DO recycle" category, with a note that "they are removed in the recycling process." According to the Contractor, Another major change is the recommendation of separate collection for computer (including laser) printout paper. Waste Paper Recycling - I I -- - DO recycle DON7 recycle - White office paper: letterhead, business forms, offset paper, scratch paper, copy paper - Coloured paper - Photo copies - Adding machine tape - Index cards - Computer printout paper include laser printout (they should preferably be collected separately) - Computer cards - Envelopes (including stamps, but remove adhesive flap or plastic window) - General business cards - Brochures and newsletters (if not on glossy paper) - Newspapers and magazines (they should preferably be collected separately) - Adhesive removable notes - Overhead transparencies - Carbon paper - Envelopes with plastic windows - Blueprint paper - Cellophane - Lunch boxes, wax paper, paper cups, paper plates - Napkins, tissue, paper towel - Box file or plastic file - Film and plastic plate - Self-adhesive stickers orthose with tape - Spiral binders - Rubber bands, paper clips, staples and other contaminants Source: SECURECYCLING (A division of Sun Shlng Fibres Limited) Ref SRS(C)/MOO4/93