Search

Paper, which is in fact a very complex cellulose-based product derived from different lignocellulosic resources, is usually regarded as a simple omnipresent commodity in our lives. Wood fibers derived from trees are the most employed sources for papermaking purposes. From an environmental protection perspective, and for their essential role in our life (they give us the life itself through their foliar system supporting the photosynthesis process), trees should not be extensively cut down and they should be used less and less for papermaking. Thus, employment of non-woody alternative sources for papermaking could be exploited more as an attractive and feasible option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the global economic issues and environmental pollution, there is a growing interest in research addressing the use of biomasses resulting from agricultural production. One main category of biomass components is lignin, the use of plant waste in the pulp industry being one of the ways in avoiding additional deforestation by suppling inputs for the paper industry. The implementation of a strategy for capitalizing the potential of renewable sources, as, but not limited to, paper production, provides the appropriate framework for decision on renewable alternatives and inclusion in the acquis domains in Romania. The present study analyzed the potential use of waste obtained from field crops, mainly annual, as wheat, sunflower, maize, soy, rape, rye, barley, sorghum, rice, to produce paper. Biomass/waste from field crops is a promising source for paper, primarily because it is renewable and has the potential to exploit over 7 million hectares of arable land, with annual use. The diversity of pedoclimatic conditions in Romania makes possible the cultivation of a wider range of species and, within them, a multitude of varieties and hybrids, with variable amounts of lignocellulosic agricultural waste. In addition, accidental years as 2022, the year with the worst drought in Europe in the last 500 years, reshaped the need of valorizing any available biomass, regardless of the production of the main crop. Our calculations show that for a paper containing 28% of renewable cellulose, with the wheat straws collected from Romania in 2019, 9633.31 thousand tons of paper would have been obtained, with an average per hectare of 2786.62 kg of paper. Our analysis shows the opportunity of using lignocellulosic agricultural waste for use as a raw material for paper production. A throughout analysis is needed in the context of extreme droughts experienced recently, to show which valorization of by-products is the most economically justified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We document the "good-on-paper effect," whereby people make more virtuous decisions on paper than on a digital device (e.g., tablet). In a series of 10 studies, we find that people are more likely to make virtuous decisions on paper than on a digital device because they perceive choices on paper as more real (i.e., tangible, actual, and belonging to the physical rather than the virtual world) and hence as more self-diagnostic (i.e., representative of who they are). We first show people express more interest in donating and volunteering (Studies 1a and 1b), are more likely to donate (Study 2), and put more effort into helping a charitable cause (Study 3) when these choices occur on paper (versus tablet)—a pattern of decision making we label the good-on-paper effect. Study 4 extends these findings to book choices (highbrow versus lowbrow) and to a device interaction that closely mimics writing on paper (i.e., tablet with digital pen). In the context of volunteering decisions, we then provide evidence for the sequential mediating roles of perceptions of realness and self-diagnosticity in the good-on-paper effect (Study 5 and Studies 6a and 6b). Finally, we show that chronic (Study 7) and situational (Study 8) perceptions of self-diagnosticity moderate this effect in the contexts of environmental protection and food choices (healthy versus indulgent), respectively. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a paper-based chemosensor array device (PCSAD) for the quantitative detection of oxyanions including the herbicide glyphosate (GlyP) in aqueous media. The mechanism of the oxyanion detection relies on a coordination-binding-based sensor array. In this study, the competitive coordination binding among Zn2+, four catechol dyes, and seven oxyanions caused noticeable colour changes. The colour changes were employed for qualitative and quantitative analyses using an in-house automated image-processing algorithm with pattern recognition for digital images. A linear discrimination analysis discerned similarly structured oxyanions with 100% accuracy. The regression analysis allowed the accurate quantification of GlyP in the herbicide products with a limit of detection of 16 mg/L, which is lower than the health advisory value for children (20 mg/L) stipulated by the environmental protection agency (EPA). PCSAD is a powerful sensor device for the on-site quantification of aqueous anions for environmental assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Use of recycled fiber material for the production of paper and paperboard has a significant share in solving problems related to environmental protection and conservation of energy resources. One of the most important processes for the paper recycling with printing press is a deinking. Perspective method for deinking of waste paper by the method of flotation is the enzyme treatment at neutral pH. The aim of this work is to study the deinking of recycled paper with offset printing press through flotation and use of enzymes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goal, Scope and Background. The environmental sustainability is one of the current priorities of the Portuguese pulp and paper industry. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was the methodology chosen to evaluate the sustainability of the printing and writing paper production activity. This paper grade represents about 60% of the total production of paper in Portugal and its production is expected to increase in the near future. The main goal of this study was to assess the potential environmental impacts associated with the entire life cycle of the printing and writing paper produced in Portugal from Eucalyptus globulus pulp and consumed in Germany, in order to identify the processes with the largest environmental impacts. Another goal of this study was to evaluate the effect on the potential environmental impacts of changing the market where the Portuguese printing and writing paper is consumed: German market vs. Portuguese market. Methods. The main stages considered in this study were: forestry, pulp production, paper production, paper distribution, and paper final disposal. Transports and production of chemicals, fuels and energy in the grid were also included in these stages. Whenever possible and feasible, average or typical data from industry were collected. The remaining data were obtained from the literature and specialised databases. A quantitative impact assessment was performed for five impact categories: global warming over 100 years, acidification, eutrophication, non-renewable resource depletion and photochemical oxidant formation. Results. In the German market scenario, the paper production stage was a remarkable hot spot for air emissions (non-renewable CO2, NOx and SO2) and for non-renewable energy consumption, and, consequently, for the impact categories that consider these parameters: global warming, acidification and non-renewable resource depletion. These important environmental impacts are due to the energy requirements in the printing and writing paper production process, which are fulfilled by on-site fuel oil burning and consumption of electricity from the national grid, which is mostly based on the use of fossil fuels. The pulp production stage was identified as the largest contributor to water emissions (COD and AOX) and to eutrophication. Considering that energy consumed by the pulp production processes comes from renewable fuels, this stage was also the most contributing to renewable energy consumption. Discussion. The paper distribution stage showed an important contribution to NOx emissions, which, however, did not result in a major contribution to acidification or eutrophication. The final disposal stage was the main contributor to the photochemical oxidant formation potential due to CH4 emissions from wastepaper landfilling. On the other hand, paper consumption in Portugal was environmentally more favourable than in Germany for the parameters/impact categories where the paper distribution stage has a significant contribution (non-renewable CO2, NOx, non-renewable energy consumption, acidification, eutrophication and non-renewable resource depletion) due to shorter distances needed to deliver paper to the consumers. For the remaining parameters/impact categories, the increase observed in the final disposal stage in the Portuguese market was preponderant, and resulted from the existence of significant differences in the final disposal alternatives in the analysed markets (recycling dominates in Germany, whereas landfilling dominates in Portugal). Conclusions. The pulp and paper production stages were found to be of significance for almost all of the inventory parameters as well as for the impact assessment categories. The paper distribution and the final disposal stages were only of importance for some of the inventory parameters and some of the impact categories.… [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the association between the evolution of environmental protection in British Columbia and the economic relations of the state and examines the implications for regulatory efforts. It states that Canada is one of the largest pulp and paper producers in the world. The development of pulp pollution regulation is discussed. Criticisms on the development of the state's regulatory powers and the regulatory process are also offered.

Since more than a decade ago, the research on highly filled papers, as well as paper‐derived inorganic materials, has greatly intensified. As presented in this review, highly filled papers as preforms allow for the design of porous or dense, multilayered, and geometrically complex structures. These paper‐derived ceramic‐ or metal‐based materials are generated by the heat‐treatment of highly filled papers. Paper‐derived materials are potential materials of choice for applications in transportation, energy‐generation, environmental conservation, support structures, medical uses, and electronic components. Due to the adjustability of the filler content and the good machinability of highly filled papers, paper‐derived sheets or multilayers may include intricate structures and tailored gradients in phase structure or porosity. Paper‐derived multilayers also may contain cast ceramic tapes or other functionalized layers, as presented in some examples. Computer‐aided manufacturing processes for paper‐derived materials can be supplemented by prediction models for the sintering shrinkage in order to identify optimal post‐processing steps, stacking orders and orientations for highly filled paper layers within multilayer green bodies. The accuracy of established component‐level sintering models can be significantly increased by microstructure models of the highly filled paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]