Printers can maximize the value of their paper recycling by collecting printed and unprinted scrap papers separately. Unprinted offset paper generates a higher value because it does not require deinking at the mill.
If room permits, store recovered paper in a compactor, in bins or on trailers. This allows the recycler to pick up large volumes of paper at one time, reducing transportation costs and the overall carbon footprint.
Recovered paper breaks down into three main categories:
Bulk Grades, like old corrugated containers (OCC), old newspapers (ONP) and mixed paper.
High Grades, recovered paper that can be de-inked and are used most often in production printing and writing papers. It includes grades like printers mix and sorted office paper.
Pulp Substitutes, grades offering even higher quality and less effort at the mill. They include grades like Hard White (often envelope cuttings) etc.
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (in Washington, DC) provides a specification guideline for paper recycling describing 51 paper grades and 35 specialty paper grades.
Paper products that cannot be recycled are those that have been manufactured or treated with chemicals (e.g. reactive polymeric material which provides wet strength properties) or paper combined with other materials (e.g. plastic coatings) that cannot be easily removed during the pulping process.
For the benefit of printers (of all sizes) recycling companies like U-Pak Recycling Ltd. provides a waste audit, reviewing all aspects of the shop’s consumption and output, and classifying all items for reduce, reuse and recycling in accordance with the Government’s three Rs regulations. We also provide a customized complete waste management program to suit an individual printer’s operations. And we provide capital and recommendations for collections systems to ease the handling of recycling paper and free up floor space.
