Paper recycling is part of the waste management activities that feed and enhance the circularity of an environmentally sustainable economy. An effective differentiated collection allows re-introducing in the productive process the waste paper material. Let's take a closer look at how the paper recycling process works.
There are several ways to recycle paper, but all
contain essential steps. First, large piles of waste paper are accumulated in
the factory yard.
Paper is then loaded onto conveyor belts and dropped into huge tanks of hot water called macerators. Here it is shredded and reduced to a pulp. Inside the tank is a powerful magnet that attracts metal objects, which are removed.
Fibers and other contaminants such as glue must be
removed by filtering them through screens. For this purpose, the mush is
discharged from the macerator and filtered.
The material may be passed through half a dozen
screens, each with a larger mesh than the previous one.
After passing through the screens, the material, reduced to a paste, is sprayed onto a conveyor belt. The paste enters the paper machine where it is spread out on a large felt and takes the shape of a sheet.
The wet layers must then be dried in order to be
transformed into cardboard.
As the material travels on the conveyor belt, a series of huge heated rollers compress the material to release any remaining water. The drying process involves several steps and each time the pressure and also the heat emanating from the rollers dries the material.
When the drying process is completed the material is transformed into cardboard and in the final phase, its quality is checked. The cardboard is dry and ready to be packed for transport and later for sale.
In this perspective of a circular economy, BOTTA Packaging uses corrugated cardboard, which in addition to being biodegradable and produced from renewable sources, is 100% recyclable.
Reference
http://utenti.romascuola.net/sangallo/ambiente/RicicloCarta2.htm
