Applicability of different recycling fibre classes

It is supposed that dispersion coated packaging waste and basic paperboard waste can be handled in the same way since different dispersion coated paper and paperboard grades with barrier latexes are repulpable. The pulper can be a conventional pulper because dispersion barrier coatings do not need any special treatments. The repulped material, which is typically recovered paper or paperboard, is slushed in the pulper and afterwards the same wood fibre can be recycled many times. (Kimpimäki 2008, 61.) The dispersion coated barrier board’s fibres can be utilized to other products in secondary production.

The European Standard EN 643 (2014, 7) contains criteria for classification of standard paper and paperboard recycling grades. It has been made to assist industry professionals, organisations and individuals who are interested paper-recycling sector in buying and selling recyclable paper and board without a need of excessive sorting before the material can be used. When using the standard grades of paper and paperboard, the paper mill can be confident that the quality of bought material, recovered paper or paperboard, is what the company wants to use as their raw material.

According to EN 643 (2014, 9), natural fibre based paperboard is suitable for recycling. The paperboard can also include constituents which cannot be dry sorted or separated from the paperboard. Those can be for example coatings and laminates.

EN 643 standard also determines which materials are prohibited. Those are any materials which can be hazardous for health, safety and environment, e.g. medical waste, contaminated products of personal hygiene, organic waste such as foodstuffs, and hazardous waste.

In the standard, there are five groups and every one of them has specific classification. The first two numbers stand for the group of the grade and the two final numbers possible subgrade. First group consist of ordinary grades, second medium grades and third one high grades. First group includes mixed paper and board, second sorted office paper and third white newsprint. Fourth group is kraft grades and the last group is special grades, such as used liquid packaging. (EN 643 2014, 13.) Table 2 presents the recycling classifications of board grades which are investigated in this study. There is a code for recycling classification, name of the material, maximum amount of non-paper components, unwanted material as well as maximum amount of FBB in percentages which is allowed in the grade.

Table 2. Recycling classifications of investigated boards grades (EN 643 2014, 17–29).

Code Name Max non-paper

Non-paper components comprise all foreign materials which are not components of paper and paperboard products and which can be separated by dry sorting. These materials are for example metal, plastic, glass, textiles, wood, sand and building materials as well as synthetic materials. Unwanted material includes the material which is not applicable for paper and paperboard production, such as non-paper components, paper, and paperboard which may compromise production, as well as paper or paperboard which is not applicable for deinking. (EN 643 2014, 11.)

Mixed paper and board (grade 1.02.00) can include paperboard from different grades but there can be only 40 % newspapers and magazines. Boxboard cuttings (grade 1.03.00) are for printed as well as unprinted white lined and unlined grey paperboard or mixed paperboard. However, no corrugated material is allowed in boxboard cuttings. Two following grades are for corrugated paper and board. The first one, corrugated paper and board packaging (1.04.00), is for used paper and paperboard packaging and there has to be at least 70 % of corrugated board. The second grade, ordinary corrugated board (1.05.00), has to contain at least 90 % used corrugated board such as boxes and sheets and they can be various qualities. Rest of the material can be various paper and paperboard packaging in both grades. (EN 643 2014, 17.)

Next three grades of interest are for multiply board. White heavily printed multiply board (3.11.00) contains wood free or wood containing plies where the surface of the board is heavily printed. White lightly printed multiply board (3.12.00) consists only paperboard which is lightly printed, wood free and which is made of mechanical pulp-based plies. White unprinted multiply board (3.13.00) is otherwise same as the grade 3.12.00 but the paperboard is unprinted. No grey or brown plies are allowed in these grades. (EN 643 2014, 23–25.)

5.02.00 is a special grade which contains a combination of different types of used packaging made from paper and paperboard. However, the mixture has to be free from graphic papers. Material from the recycling points and centres in Finland are typically this grade since it includes various qualities of used packages, such as all grades, which are mentioned earlier, as well as plastic coated packages. Plastic coated material has its own grade. 2.11.00 is for paper and paperboard, which have plastic coating. The material can also be printed or unprinted and unbleached. (EN 643 2014, 21, 29.) Both of these grades need special treatments when they are recycled since the plastic layer has to be separated from the fibres and the mixed grade needs to be sorted before the recycling.

Since different grades have different quality demands, the price of the material is also different. Mixed paper and paperboard as well as the material, which needs special treatments, have the lowest price. The material, which can be used straight without any special treatments, is the most expensive. Therefore, well sorted, clean and bleached wood free recycling paper in large amounts have the highest price.

The paper and paperboard market is global, which affects to the market price of the material, by making them almost the same all around Europe. (EUWID 2017, 6–9.)