Minimizing the Environmental Impact of the Papermaking Process
From an environmental perspective,papermakers have a positive story to tell.The products that we manufacture mainly come from renewable resources.Paper can be recycled.Its also biodegradable.It also can be incinerated to recover its energy value.However,the process of making paper also can raise some environmental concerns.Decades ago it was common to be able to see environmental impacts of papermaking additives just by looking at a waterway downstream of a paper mill.The color of river water often was a good clue as to what color of paper was being manufactured.Such impacts have been greatly reduced,not only due to implementation of wastewater treatment operations,but also to advances in papermaking chemistry-making it possible to achieve high levels of retention efficiency.In the future we can expect there to be increasing emphasis on the overall environmental impact of each chemical additive that is used.Issues that will be considered will include the chemicals toxicity,biodegradability,and its tendency(or lack thereof)to become retained on solid surfaces.Certain papermaking additives also have the potential to reduce the need for fibersor to enable the papermaker to meet specifications at higher filler levels or lower basis weights.Further opportunities lie in the area of automation,making it possible to use chemical additives more efficiently.Looking toward the future,perhaps energy use will emerge as the dominant issue.Evaporation of water is the most energy-demanding part of the papermaking process.Though it is very difficult to demonstrate conclusively,some of the same chemicals that can promote faster dewatering in the forming section also appear to make it easier to squeeze water out of paper in the press section,reducing the amount of evaporation required.
papermaking environmental impact sustainable renewable resources recycling
MARTIN A.HUBBE
Dept.of Wood and Paper Science,North Carolina State University Campus Box 8005 Raleigh,NC 27695-8005 USA
国际会议
第二届国际造纸与环境学术会议(The Second International Papermaking & Environment Conference)
天津
英文
37-40
2008-05-14（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）