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As a kind of chemical additives, surfactants are widely used in the processes of papermaking, which played roles of wetting, dispersing, emulsifying etc. to adjust and maintain the product performance. However, there are few reports about the effect of surfactants on fiber properties, especially during paper recycling. This work investigated the effects of three types of surfactants on the cellulosic fibers and paper properties during five-time recycling. Properties of recycled paper with five times were presented as the index of papermaking potential. The results showed that cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), a cationic surfactant, had an obvious negative effect on paper properties. For continuous surfactant supplements, the burst, tearing, and tensile index decreased by 50.2%, 41.6%, and 43.6%, respectively. Sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS), an anionic surfactant, had a significant positive effect on fibers' WRV and inhibited the fibers' hornification to some extent. However, it had a negative effect on paper properties by affecting the bonding between the fibers. Triton X-100 (TX-100), a nonionic surfactant, improved paper properties according to the papermaking potential. For adding surfactant only once, the burst, tearing, and tensile index increased by 15.0%, 8.59%, and 7.2%, respectively. For these three types of surfactants, TX-100 was generally more beneficial for fiber and paper. This paper revealed the effects of surfactants on the fiber and paper properties and perfected the theory of surfactants applied for fiber and paper in papermaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors used time-series data from 1975 to 2020 on combustible renewables and waste production and recycling. References 1 Ben Yahya T., Jamal N.M., Sundarakani B., Omain S.Z. The Effects of Data Security and Perceived Benefits on Mobile Phone Recycling Behaviour and the Recycling Intention Mediation Role. This Special Issue aimed to collect high-quality papers (original research articles or comprehensive review papers) published during 2022 on the subject of waste recycling. Waste Management Analyses Efficient waste management systems are crucial in order to match the high recycling goals set by European Union by 2030. [Extracted from the article]

The active mass of the plates of aspent car battery with higher wear after an efficient desulfatization can be used as sources of a new electrode. This paper proposes the recycling of spent electrodes from a lead acid battery and the incorporation of NiO or Co3O4 contents by the melt-quenching method in order to enrich the electrochemical properties. The analysis of X-ray diffractograms indicates the gradual decrease in the sulfated crystalline phases, respectively, 4PbO·PbSO4 and PbO·PbSO4 phases, until their disappearance for higher dopant concentrations. Infrared (IR) spectra show a decreasing trend in the intensity of the bands corresponding to the sulfate ions and a conversion of [PbO3] pyramidal units into [PbO4] tetrahedral units by doping with high dopant levels, yielding to the apparition of the PbO2 crystalline phase. The observed electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra confirm three signals located on the gyromagnetic factor, g~2, 2.2 and 8 assigned to the nickel ions in higher oxidation states as well as the metallic nickel nanoparticles. This compositional evolution can be explained by considering a process of the drastic reduction in nickel ions from the superior oxidation states to metallic nickel. The linewidth and the intensity of the resonance lines situated at about g~2, 2.17, 4.22 and 7.8 are attributed to the Co+2 ions from the EPR data. The best reversibility of the cyclic voltammograms was highlighted for the samples with x = 10 mol% of NiO and 15 mol% of Co3O4, which are recommended as suitable in applications as new electrodes for the lead acid battery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recycling programs have significantly reduced the amount of waste sent to landfills, but recycling contamination rates have risen, reducing the environmental benefit of recycling collection. In this work, we investigate the prevalence of food-stained recyclable material contaminating recycling by evaluating disposal decisions of food-stained paper items. Consumers are more likely to contaminate recycling with food-stained items that have a low (vs. high) degree of dirtiness. We argue that consumers may dispose food-stained paper items into recycling out of a desire to avoid the anticipated negative feelings of not recycling. Consistent with this argument, we demonstrate that consumers with higher environmental values are less influenced by the degree of dirtiness of food-stained paper items and feel more negatively about not recycling food-stained paper items. We further demonstrate that disposal informational campaigns can reduce recycling contamination and increase composting by changing how consumers feel about recycling food-stained paper items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber-reinforced thermoplastics are an important construction material for lightweight applications. The increasing use of especially glass fiber-reinforced plastics leads to growing amounts of not recyclable composite materials, which is commonly disposed of by landfilling. Hence, there is a need for a recycling concept for glass-fiber-reinforced plastics that enables their complete reuse over many recycling cycles. In this paper, such a recycling concept is presented, which is based on the idea of melting the whole glass-fiber-reinforced component without prior size reduction. The fiber-reinforced melt will be pressed through a nozzle in order to achieve a strand with highly oriented fibers that can then be applied in new components via a tape-like laying process. The feasibility of the recycling concept is proved in this paper. Therefore, investigations on the reorientation of fibers in the melt by pressing through a rectangular nozzle have been carried out with different nozzle diameters, shear rates and melt temperatures. The investigations result in a stable process, which enables an increase in fiber orientation of about 37% up to a mean fiber orientation of 67% in the flow direction. These findings are independent of the initial fiber orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper defines terms such as "recycling rate" that enable the characterization of flows of battery materials and expands the terminology to accommodate the description of complex product recycling. It also estimates the maximum percentage of U.S. demand for critical elements that could be satisfied by recycling as demand continues to grow, and it defines and estimates the recycling rate for lithium-ion batteries. Finally, it clarifies the role of manufacturing scrap as the domestic U.S. supply chain is built up. It concludes that recycling will be important in the long term, but growth still requires that new material be extracted to supply additional material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A never-dried (ND) fines-free softwood bleached kraft pulp was converted to air-dried and thermally dried handsheets, which were then disintegrated or sonicated in water under various conditions. These disintegrated or sonicated pulps were converted to handsheets and used to obtain fundamental data on paper recycling. The water-vapor-adsorption isotherms of the pulp and sheet samples after super-critical-point drying showed clear differences between the water volumes adsorbed by the ND pulp, once-dried pulp, and dried sheets at the same relative humidities above 50%. These differences are caused by hornification of the pulp and sheet samples during drying and recycling. Air and thermal drying of wet webs decreased the adsorbed-water-vapor volume by 7%–9% and 14%–18%, respectively, relative to that adsorbed by the original ND pulp. We hypothesize that the decrease in water-vapor-adsorption volume from that of the original ND pulp at relative humidities >50% reflects the degree of irreversible formation of hydroxyl groups in the originally hydrophilic hemicelluloses and crystalline cellulose microfibril surfaces in the pulp and sheet samples during drying and paper recycling. The water-vapor-adsorption isotherms of pulp and sheet samples can be used to quantify the degree of hornification or the amount of irreversible hydrogen bonds formed during paper recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of printed paper electronics in consumer goods is expected to experience a mass development in the next future. The ink used in these devices contains silver nanomaterials that may be released into the environment at the product end-of-life. We report here the first evaluation of the fate of silver during a pilot-scale recycling of printed paper electronics, made of paper printed with a cellulose nanofibrils-silver nanowire ink. We show that the released effluents are mainly free from silver, which is retained in the pulp conserved for recycling. We use atomic force microscopy experiments to show that this strong pulp-silver bond is due to the embedding of the silver nanowires in the pulp by coils of cellulose nanofibrils. We propose an estimate of the resulting adhesion stress of the nanowires to the ink, high enough to keep the silver inside the pulp during the recycling procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sticky contaminants present one of the biggest technical challenges in the paper recycling process. These contaminants reduce paper strength, cause plugging of wires and felts, and stick to or deposit on machine parts affecting the runnability of the paper machine. In this study, first, the sticky deposit on doctor blades was subjected to multi-stage extraction with alcohol, acetone, toluene, and tetrahydrofuran solvents respectively. Then the nature of the resulting material and its physicochemical properties was investigated with FTIR analysis, GC-MS, TGA, XRF, SEM. The results showed that these deposite originates from the fibers, polymers such as polyvinyl acetate and styrene butadiene, which are components of hot melt adhesives, and fatty acid/resin esters. Fatty acids and resins are the most common organic compounds in stickies deposite. The possible origin of these compounds are chemical substances (saponified fatty acids), deinking steps and some resins and fatty acids used in the formulation of adhesives or more resistant resins and extractive materials related to cellulosic fibers. The identified minerals are mainly calcium, iron, silica and aluminum, which are present in the formulation of fillers and coating pigments during the papermaking process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paper crumb (PC) is a type of paper sludge residue from the wastepaper recycling industry. It is a by-product from the various fiber purification stages that is particularly composed of short cellulose fibers, lignin, organic compounds and inorganic filler residues. Despite representing a reject material for the paper recycling sector, this feedstock can be turned into a bioresource to enable cross-sector industrial symbiosis in the form of a more sustainable concrete, hence an opportunity for novel Net Zero supply chains. This study sought to valorise the PC by the sequential anaerobic digestion to produce methane (CH 4) from the organic compounds, followed by utilization of the digestate as a water replacement in concrete. The 21-day digestion of PC yielded 163 ml CH 4 per gram volatile solids and the resulting digestate improved concrete compressive strength up to 50% water replacement grade, meeting the requirements for structural grade (C32/40) applications with substitution grades up to 50% and 25%, with and without the addition of plasticiser respectively. In a minor capacity, the digestate reduced workability of the concrete mix, however we demonstrate this issue can be resolved by the addition of plasticiser or increased water to cement ratios. The admixture addition is important to facilitate pumpability on site and ensure satisfactory compaction. This study highlights the potential of anaerobic digestate as a concrete supplement (additive), which would improve the sustainability of both the construction and the paper sector. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultrasonic pretreatment could improve the accessibility of enzymes to cellulosic fibers, hence expanding the access of enzymes to effectively remove ink from paper. In this study, enzymes were isolated from paddy rice husks and utilized for biodeinking process. The characterizations of deinking from the pulp filtrate and paper samples were carried out to understand the effect of bacterial cellulases and ultrasonic pretreatment with time variables. The results showed that cellulases from bacterial isolates had the ability to hydrolyze cellulose at 1.78 U/mL enzyme activity. Ink content measurement showed 2310 ppm of ink was removed in the paper samples with 15 min of ultrasound pretreatment and 2% cellulases. Meanwhile, morphological analysis showed significant differences in the surface areas between treated and untreated paper samples. The highest crystallinity index achieved was 70.9%, and thermal resistance was 21.0%. Other paper qualities such as stain decrease, and brightness level improvement were observed. The combination of 2% cellulases with optimum ultrasonication duration resulted in exceptional wastepaper recycling process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the printing and packaging industry, sustainability is defined as manufacture and practices that reflect responsibility for the environment and resources to meet the needs and expectations of future generations. In this article, raw material management, cellulose resources, industrial forests, ecological and renewable alternative fiber resources were examined in the framework of the sustainability of the printing and packaging industry. The recycling of printed materials and packaging and the effects of paper-ink types and product design in this recycling have been discussed. The effect of separation and processing at the source on the efficiency of paper recycling, economy and ecology was emphasized. The greenhouse gas emissions of solvents used in inks and cleaners, the impact on climate change, water footprint and carbon footprint issues were examined. Suggestions have been made on environmental sustainability in the printing industry, what needs to be done for a competitive production, successful optimization, minimization of waste, use of existing possibilities, recycling and evaluation of alternatives and use of clean energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop and empirically test a model that can predict factors affecting student recycling behavior. The theoretical model was based on motivation, place attachment, environmental concern and interpersonal altruism. Design/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional study was conducted with college students in Taiwan using self-report questionnaires. Of the 800 distributed questionnaires, 523 were completed (response rate of 65.4%) and were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Partial least squares (PLS) were used to test the models and hypotheses. Findings: The results showed that environmental concern, motivation, interpersonal altruism and place attachment have significant positive effects on recycling behavior and motivation and place attachment have significant positive effects on interpersonal altruism. This research contributes to the existing literature by discriminating between two sorts of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Based on these findings, suggestions for future research and practical implications are presented. Originality/value: Few studies have linked motivation, interpersonal altruism, environmental concern and place attachment to recycling behavior. Therefore, this study aimed to explore these relationships, specifically as they affect college students' behavior. This paper anticipates that increased knowledge about recycling behavior could be used to support the wider adoption of recycling practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emission of off-odors from mechanically recycled plastics severely limits their re-introduction into the market for the production of new objects, for the same use or even for less demanding applications, thus hindering the implementation of an effective circular economy for plastics. The addition of adsorbing agents during the extrusion of polymers represents one of the most promising strategy to reduce the odorous emissions of plastics, due to its characteristics of cost-effectiveness, flexibility and low energy consumption. The novelty of this work lies in the assessment of zeolites as VOC adsorbents during the extrusion of recycled plastics. They appear more suitable than other types of adsorbents, due to their ability to capture and "hold" the adsorbed substances at the high temperatures of the extrusion process. Moreover, the effectiveness of this deodorization strategy was compared with the traditional degassing technique. Two types of mixed polyolefin wastes, coming from completely different collection and recycling processes, were tested: Fil-S (Film-Small), deriving from post-consumer flexible films of small size, and PW (pulper waste), which is the residual plastic waste obtained from the paper recycling process. The melt compounding of the recycled materials with two micrometric zeolites (zeolite 13X and Z310) resulted as more effective in the off-odors removal with respect to degassing. In particular, the highest reduction (−45%) of the Average Odor Intensity (AOI) was measured for both PW/Z310 and Fil-S/13X systems at 4 wt% of the zeolites' amount, compared with the corresponding untreated recyclates. Finally, by combining degassing and melt compounding with zeolites, the best result was obtained for the composite Fil-S/13X, whose Average Odor Intensity resulted as quite close (+22%) to the one of the virgin LDPE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs) are widely used in the aerospace, automotive, and construction industries. CFRP prepregs (intermediate products) are generally used in CFRP production, with a large number of prepreg cut‐offs being discarded during cutting processes. There is strong demand for a method for recycling carbon fiber prepreg cut‐offs. This paper proposes a method for recycling such material, which is characterized by low cost and high added value, in order to foster the development of a recycling‐oriented society. We prepare carbon tapes (CTs) by cutting discarded cut‐offs according to their size so as to maximize fiber length. Using a simple water CT dispersion method, we fabricate uniform CT sheets and mold a recycled CT‐reinforced composite (R‐CT‐RC). Sample prototyping and mechanical characteristic testing indicate that this R‐CT‐RC is characterized by low recycling cost and desirable mechanical properties. Recycled CT‐reinforced composite with thermoplastic (R‐CT‐RC/TP), which is prepared by adding thermoplastic resin between CTs, can be re‐molded and therefore readily re‐recycled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recycled fibers are essential raw materials used by the paper industry. However, the strength of the formed paper may fall off excessively after several cycles of reuse of the fibers. Herein, the authors measured the changes in physical properties and fiber size after multiple recycling of fibers and prepared a handsheet from fiber recycled different times. Then the handsheets made with fibers that had been recycled 5 times were double-coated with nanocellulose derivatives to obtain oleophobic and hydrophobic paper. The first layer applied to the paper was cellulose nanofibril (CNF), and the second coating contained polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and CNF (CNFmp). The physical properties and barrier performance of coated paper were greatly improved compared to recycling paper. The water contact angle of the coated paper was as high as 139.8° and the Cobb60 value was 35.18±2.15 g/m2. The oil contact angle was 97.1°, and the oil kit number was 12/12. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decades, the German paper industry has been increasing the sustainability of paper production by continuously using more recovered paper. Today, recovered paper is an essential secondary raw material to produce new paper. Nevertheless, around 20 % of the paper produced in Germany is still not returned to the recovered paper stream and instead is mostly thermally used. To further increase the use of fibers from recovered paper as secondary raw material and thus, to reduce primary energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, new approaches to recycle recovered paper from mixed waste streams are needed. In the research project "Energy savings in paper production by opening up the value chains of recovered paper from lightweight packaging, residual waste and commercial waste" (EnEWA), a treatment process is developed to recover and recycle recovered paper from the mentioned waste streams. The advanced mechanical process to be newly developed consists of dry-mechanical sorting, the manufacturing of economically usable secondary raw materials (defibration), their wet-mechanical dissolution, separation and hygienization and finally their reuse in paper production. This enables the exploitation of new waste streams in material recycling and thus contributes to reduced energy consumption as well as CO2 emissions within the circular economy. Initial material characterization analyses show that on the one hand the quality of the paper discarded in mixed waste streams is sufficient to be used as secondary raw material and that on the other hand up to 50 % of the paper discarded could have been disposed of within the separate paper collection. The results are incorporated in the development of a sorting process for pre-concentrates, which serves as input material for the treatment process to recover paper fibers. In further steps, the results generated will be integrated, for instance, into the future development of the minimum standard for packaging recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recycling is emerging as both a viable alternative to extraction in many industries and a cornerstone of the circular economy. In this paper, we assess the role of paper and cardboard recycling on the forest sector, from both an economic and carbon perspective. For this purpose, we add the recycling industry to an existing forest-sector model in an attempt to capture its effects on other wood products and the overall forest resource. As the forest sector has an important potential for climate change mitigation, this model allows us to assess the effects of increased paper and cardboard recycling on the availability of the natural resource and the carbon balance of the forest sector. We show that these results are strongly linked to the hypotheses of substitutability and/or complementarity of recycled pulp and virgin pulpwood. Although we find increased emissions at the pulp sector level, the effects on emissions in other wood products are small. When pulp products are considered substitutes, we find the impact on total net sequestration to be positive. In the case where pulp products are considered complements, we find the impact on total net sequestration to be negative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the energy, economic, and environmental (3E) analysis on two waste-to-energy (WtE) technologies, for example, anaerobic digestion (AD) and incineration, for the treatment of municipal solid waste in Surat (Gujarat, India) was conducted. For energy criteria, the potential for energy recovery from municipal solid wastes (MSW) through AD and incineration was considered. The economic analysis that was carried out considered preprocessing, transportation, land, capital investment, and operational and maintenance costs that were incurred. The revenue that was generated by selling the electricity and compost was considered along with the recycling value of the paper waste. For environmental analysis, the global warming and acidification potentials (APs) were considered from the emissions that were produced during the treatment, transport, and disposal along with the displaced emissions. The results indicated that the average daily solid waste generation from Surat was 0.33 kg/person and the average total solid waste generation was 2080 t/day. Organic waste was the largest fraction (35.6%) followed by inert waste (13.5%), construction and demolition waste (12.4%), and recyclable waste, such as glass, rubber, and metal (11.2%). AD had less energy generation potential (9.89 MW) compared with incineration (16.99 MW). From an economic perspective, incineration had a higher profit (INR 1.48 million/day) than AD (INR 1.38 million/day). The environmental analysis showed that incineration had greater potential to reduce global warming and acidification compared with AD. The 3E analysis revealed that incineration was the superior technology choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining an appropriate cellulosic based composite type for sustainable products is still challenging for both designers and the industry. Also, enhancing efficient high-quality joining techniques is still motivating the wide applications of composite materials as structural components. This work introduces a potential scheme of recycling accumulated waste copying papers into functional products via paper- epoxy reinforced composite material. Various cellulosic based copying papers were utilized as 15, 25 and 50 papers to fabricate paper/epoxy plate materials. The mechanical properties of the fabricated composites were investigated regarding the tensile strength, tensile modulus and elongation to break. The delamination factors for the drilling operation of the composites were studied and optimized to eliminate the exit (push-out delamination). The operational condition schemes were determined to reduce the delamination factor of the produced holes. Results have revealed that the 50 paper/epoxy composite shows the highest strength with a value of 86 MPa. However, the 25 paper/epoxy case was the best regarding the modulus of elasticity property. The worst delamination factor at 15 paper /epoxy composite occurred at both 6 mm drill diameter at 475 rpm spindle speed and 8 mm drill diameter at 850 rpm spindle speed. The 15 paper/epoxy delamination factor was decreased with increasing the spindle speed at 6 mm drill. The best delamination factor for the 25 paper/epoxy case was obtained with both 6 and 10 mm drill diameter at 1500 rpm spindle speed. However, the 50 paper/epoxy case was capable of reducing the delamination factor for most of the operational conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research is to study the changes in the market structure of China's pulp and paper product imports. In particular, the import trade environment and market layout of Chinese pulp and paper products have changed under the international context of the coronavirus pandemic and the Sino-US trade dispute and the domestic policy context of zero imports of Chinese waste paper. This study attempts to fill the gap regarding the influencing factors of market structure, while contributing new ideas on China's trade in pulp and paper products. Based on pulp and paper product import and export trade data from 2005 to 2021, a trade gravity model was used to explore the changes in the share of China's trade partners for pulp and paper product imports and their influencing factors. The results indicated that the outbreak of COVID-19 led to a significant increase in China's imports of packaging paper products, bringing about an increase in Indonesia's status as a partner in China's pulp and paper product trade. The US-China trade dispute had an impact on pulp and paper product trade between the two countries, with China's tax countermeasures causing the US to lose its status as a trading partner in China for pulp and paper product imports. The center of gravity for paper product imports has moved from the US and Japan to Indonesia and Russia. The restrictions on waste paper imports have shifted the focus of China's paper raw material imports, with the US no longer being the main importer of China's paper raw materials. Specifically, the main importers of wood pulp are Brazil and Chile, while the main importers of waste paper pulp are Thailand and Malaysia. In the future, China needs to continuously strengthen dialogue with the United States to resolve trade disputes and create a favorable environment for trade in pulp and paper products. At the same time, China's paper enterprises should strengthen the expansion of the Southeast Asian market and reduce dependence on the US market, and China should continue to improve the waste paper recycling system and improve the utilization rate of domestic waste paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goiânia, the Goiás State capital, starred in 1987, where one of the largest radiological accidents in the world happened. A teletherapy machine was subtracted from a derelict radiotherapy clinic and disassembled by scavengers who distributed fragments of the 50 TBq 137CsCl source among relatives and acquaintances, enchanted by the blue shine of the substance. During the 15 days before the accident was acknowledged, contaminated recycling materials were delivered to recycling factories in four cities in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, in the form of recycling paper bales. The contaminated bales were spotted, collected, and stored in fifty 1.6 m3 steel boxes at the interim storage facility of the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (IPEN). In 2017, a check of the content was performed in a few boxes and the presence of high moisture content was observed even though the bales were dry when conditioned and the packages were kept sealed since then. The main objective of this work was to report the fungi found in the radioactive waste after they evolved for 30 years in isolation inside the waste boxes and their role in the decay of the waste. Examination of the microbiome showed the presence of nematodes and fungal communities. The fungi species isolated were Aspergillus quadricinctus, Fusarium oxysporum, Lecanicillium coprophilumi, Scedosporium boydii, Scytalidium lignicola, Xenoacremonium recifei, and Pleurostoma richardsiae. These microorganisms showed a significant capacity to digest cellulose in our trials, which could be one of the ways they survive in such a harsh environment, reducing the volume of radioactive paper waste. These metabolic abilities give us a future perspective of using these fungi in biotechnology to remediate radioactively contaminated materials, particularly cellulose-based waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthcare contributes to environmental harm. Trainee-led Research and Audit in Anaesthesia for Sustainable Healthcare (TRA2SH) is an Australasian network focused on sustainable anaesthesia practice. TRA2SH hypothesised that trainee-led audits alongside education presented on a scheduled national day, called Operation Clean Up, can improve engagement with sustainability initiatives. This paper aims to describe the first two years of Operation Clean Up in terms of goals, achievements and data collected so far. Environmental themes for Operation Clean Up were chosen based on available evidence (life cycle analyses and observational studies). The first Operation Clean Up (OCU 2020) focused on reducing the unnecessary use of single-use disposable absorbent pads (known as 'blueys' in Australia, 'greenies' in New Zealand). OCU 2021 included: refuse desflurane, reduce bluey use, reuse drug trays, and recycle paper and cardboard. TRA2SH provided an information pack to trainees who presented educational material to their department and fed back procurement figures to quantify each item. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse de-identified pooled data submitted to a centralised database. Eight departments submitted data for OCU 2020 and six provided follow-up data. Bluey use was reduced from a median of 37 to 34 blueys per ten surgical encounters. Fifteen departments submitted pre-campaign data for OCU 2021 with follow-up data to be collected during OCU 2022. Baseline data showed a median bluey use of 31 per ten surgical encounters. Volatile-related emissions were calculated; desflurane's proportion was 70% of these emissions yet was 11% of volatile procurement. Two participating departments removed desflurane from their formulary following OCU 2021. Operation Clean Up is a practical model for implementing sustainability initiatives using trainees as eco-leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incineration of high‐moisture solid residues generated at the recycling paper mills represents an energetically unfavourable method of resource utilization. Alternatively, hydrothermal pre‐treatment is considered. In this study, low‐value paper sludges from three different recycling streams were hydrothermally carbonized at 205, 225, and 245°C for 3 h. The raw feedstocks and derived hydrochars were analyzed for energy properties, chemical characteristics, surface morphology, functional groups, and combustion performance employing energy densification and mass yield quantification, scanning electron microscopy, elemental analyzer, Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetry. The increase in reaction temperature was reported to cause a decrease in mass yield and an increase in energy densification and calorific values corresponding to 5.98%–49.35% and 10.10%–58.51% for raw fibre rejects and final sludge‐derived hydrochar, respectively. Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) had a non‐significant influence on the energy densification of primary clarifier sludge‐derived hydrochar. Higher reaction temperatures favoured the rate of dehydration and decarboxylation, leading to hydrochars with lower H/C and O/C ratios, thereby enhancing the overall fuel properties. The low‐nitrogen and low‐sulphur fuels obtained validated the effectiveness of HTC treatment to produce high‐quality cleaner solid fuel. The burnout temperature was mostly reduced with an increase in HTC temperature. At HTC‐205 and 225°C, the ignition temperature and the combustion performance increased as a result of the HTC reaction mechanisms. HTC effectively recovered hydrochar with increased carbon content, improved energy densification, and good combustion adequacy. Hydrochar derived from recycling mills may play a role in the energy sector as a substitute for coal or in co‐combustion at coal‐fired power plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies allow us to create three-dimensional objects using successive layers of material that are selectively laser sintered to create the object. This group of technologies has become an essential component of Industry 4.0, offering numerous advantages, including the reduction of material waste and the ability to customize products. The paper investigates the recycling of PA2200 powder waste following successful 3D printing experiments using Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) technology and provides a cost analysis of the associated processes. In addition, an analysis of scientific papers reporting the use of PA2200 - both "as new" and "recycled" - was conducted using the Web of Science database. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To replace petroleum-derived polymers with cellulose fibres, it is desirable to have the option of melt processing. However, upon heating, cellulose degradation typically starts before the material reaches its softening temperature. Alternatives to plastics should also, ideally, be recyclable via existing recycling streams. Here, we address the problem of melt processing cellulose as fibres while preserving recyclability. Native cellulose fibres were partially modified to dialcohol cellulose to impart thermoplastic characteristics. We demonstrate melt processing of these modified fibres with only water as plasticiser. Processability was investigated at selected processing temperatures and initial moisture content by monitoring the axial force of the extruder screws as a rheological indicator. The effects on molecular structure, fibre morphology and material properties were characterised by NMR spectroscopy, microscopy, tensile testing, fibre morphology analysis and X-ray diffraction. When comparing the melt-processed extrudate with handsheets, the already exceptional ductility was further increased. Moderate losses in tensile strength and stiffness were observed and are attributable to a loss of crystallinity and fibre shortening. This is the first report of strong and durable extrudates using cellulosic fibres as the only feedstock. Finally, the potential for recycling the processed material with unmodified fibres by paper recycling procedures was demonstrated. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste paper is a significant waste resource that is part of waste polymer materials in vast quantities, and there is now a lot of focus on the development of high-value conversion and use technologies for waste paper. High-quality waste paper fibers (WF) were extracted in this work from the deinked waste paper pulp by mechanical process. Then, waste paper fiber/polylactic acid (WF/PLA) composites were synthesized using hybrid forming technique to investigate the modification impact of WF on WF/PLA composites. The results showed that a certain additive amount of WF could improve barrier property of WF/PLA composites. When WF was added of 3.5 %, a water vapor transport rate was only of 59 g/(m2d), and the barrier property was increased by 82.8 %. Besides, WF/PLA composites also possessed good thermal stability. With the additive WF ranging from 3 % to 4 %, the initial decomposing temperature of WF/PLA composites increased by 19℃. Importantly, the transparency of PLA was slightly improved with a certain addition of WF. Hence, this work realized the performance enhancement of WF/PLA composites by a small addition of WF, and reduced the production cost of PLA to some extent, which had a good application prospect. [Display omitted] • Achieved the recycling and high value utilization of waste paper. • Realized high efficiency modification of PLA with low additive waste paper fiber. • Produced barrier transparent PLA composite films. • Produced green biodegradable material with low cost and high performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examined the beneficial effects of the synergistic deinking and delignification process on the quality of recycled pulp. By utilizing a mixture of neutral sodium sulfite, sodium carbonate, and fungal hemicellulase enzyme, the research demonstrated that the paper achieved enhancements in brightness, whiteness, tensile and burst indices, while also exhibiting reduced yellowness and ERIC in comparison to paper derived from chemically deinked pulp. The high-resolution ESCA analysis demonstrated a reduction in lignin surface coverage, and enhancement in the O/C atomic ratios. FTIR spectra indicated notable alterations in the structure of fibers and the functional groups of deinked pulp fibers. XRD spectra confirmed a higher cellulose crystallinity index and FESEM micrographs illustrated a rougher surface with the emergence of new fibrils. Additionally, UV analysis of the pulp effluents indicated significant lignin absorbance, while post-bleaching with H 2 O 2 further enhanced the reactivity of the pulp and the overall quality of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change mitigation by increased paper recycling can alleviate the two-sided pressure on the Swedish forest sector: supplying growing demands for wood-based products and increasing the forest carbon sink. This study assesses two scenarios for making use of a reduced demand for primary pulp resulting from an increased paper recycling rate in Sweden, from the present 72% to 78%. A Conservation scenario uses the saved primary pulp to reduce pulplog harvests so as to increase the forest carbon sink concomitant with constant overall wood product supply. In contrast, a Substitution scenario uses the saved primary pulp to produce man-made cellulosic fibers (MMCF) from dissolving pulp replacing cotton fiber, implying increased overall wood product supply. Our results suggest that utilizing efficiency gains in paper recycling to reduce pulplog harvests is better from a climate change mitigation perspective than producing additional MMCF to substitute cotton fiber. This conclusion holds even when assuming the use of by-products from dissolving pulp making and an indirect increase in MMCF availability. Hence, unless joint improvements across the value chain materialize, the best climate change mitigation option from increased paper recycling in Sweden would seemingly be to reduce fellings rather than producing additional MMCF.

The article explores the experiences of STEM teachers to create a model for engaging STEM tasks, focusing on seven major themes related to task design and implementation. It mentions themes including problem-solving, capabilities development, student-centered approaches, and more; and mentions that Teachers emphasize the importance of engaging STEM tasks for student interest, and well-designed STEM lessons can also benefit teachers by increasing their enthusiasm and job satisfaction.

The effect of bamboo virgin pulp addition to the recycled pulp in enhancing the recycled paper's mechanical properties was evaluated. Malaysian bamboo virgin pulp used in this research were Bambusa vulgaris (Aur bamboo), Gigantochloa levis (Beting bamboo), and Gigantochloa scortechinii (Semantan bamboo). The addition of 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 wt% of bamboo virgin pulp improved the burst index, folding endurance, tearing index, and tensile index of the recycled paper from 2.27 to 3.17 kPa.m2/g, 7 to 15 double folds, 5.98 to 8.27 mN.m2/g, and 24.86 to 32.40 Nm/g, respectively. These were equivalent to the increment percentage for burst index, folding endurance, tearing index, and tensile index at the range of 6.61 to 39.65%, 28.57 to 114.29%, 15.72 to 38.59%, and 10.50 to 33.87%, respectively. The application of bamboo virgin pulp is very promising in improving the recycled paper's mechanical properties and this could be further extended in enhancing the other properties such as physical and optical paper properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Semi-automated generation of regionalized paper recycling life-cycle inventories. • National impacts on climate change of recycling three paper grades in 191 countries. • Life-cycle assessment case study of Quebec's mixed wastepaper recycling system. Recycling is a commonly acknowledged strategy to reduce the environmental impacts linked to primary resource exploitation. Large regional variations can be observed in recycling processes' parameters, like efficiency, energy mix and treatment of rejects. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is widely used to evaluate the environmental impacts of recycling processes, but existing studies are neither harmonized nor sufficient to provide a comprehensive geographical and technological coverage of recycling processes. The purpose of this research is to develop an efficient and iterative approach for the parametrized generation of semi-automated regionalized life-cycle inventories that take into account technological and geographical variabilities in the recycling sector. The regionalization framework is then applied to create a parametrized paper recycling regionalization tool. This tool is used in the results section to compare the national climate change impacts of recycling three paper grades. Results show a significant global warming impact variability between countries for recycled graphic paper (0.36 to 2.25 kg CO 2 -Eq/kg wastepaper recycled), newsprint (0.27 to 1.84 kg CO 2 -Eq/kg wastepaper recycled) and corrugated cardboard (0.28 to 1.68 kg CO 2 -Eq/kg wastepaper recycled) productions. A regionalized LCA of the international recycling of the mixed wastepaper exported from Quebec's (Canada) sorting centers is also performed with the tool and compared to the non-regionalized mixed wastepaper recycling process available in the ecoinvent database. Only nine midpoint ReCiPe impact categories remain environmentally advantageous compared to virgin paper production when applying the regionalization methodology, compared to sixteen when using the ecoinvent process, illustrating how regionalization can substantially influence LCA results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic sticky contaminants represent one of the biggest technical challenges in the paper recycling process. These contaminants reduce paper strength, cause plugging of wires and felts, and stick to or deposit on machine parts affecting the runnability of the paper machine. The removal of these sticky contaminants is difficult to achieve along the process due to the heterogeneous nature of these organic contaminants. In this study, the nature of sticky contaminants in multiple wastepaper grades was analyzed and characterized using screening, solvent extraction with subsequent analysis such as FT-IR, GC-MS, and SEM. The content of stickies in wastepaper varies among different paper grades and their recovery methods. The wastepaper from curb side collection contains nearly 4 times the amount of stickies than most of the wastepaper grades collected from a local paper recycling mill. Polyvinyl acetate polymers, styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), paraffin waxes and polyamines are the major components in the extracted sticky contaminants. In addition, these stickies deposit heavily on fibers surface leading to high negative charge in fibers suspension ranging between 2 and 4.5 µeq/L. It is expected that these findings will assist addressing the knowledge gaps in understanding the nature of stickies and their behaviors, and to eventually develop highly efficient technologies for contamination removal in the paper recycling process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a binary reinforcement system of polyamide polyamine epichlorohydrin with nanocellulose (PAE-NC) for effectively modification of the reclaimed fibres for paper production, and based on the improvement of physical and mechanical properties of cellulosic fibres together with PAE-NC self-crosslinking networks, the strengthening mechanisms of recycled papers are examined. The PAE-NC binary system was applied directly to old corrugated container (OCC) and softwood bleached kraft pulp (SWBKP), and handsheets are prepared with varying amounts of PAE/NC/PAE-NC, namely 0.05, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 wt% (dry pulp). The results showed that the studied additives improved the performance of recycled fibres, whether SWBKP or OCC pulp, and handsheets in solely or combined mechanisms except for the air permeability of the handsheets. The treatment of PAE-NC combination was significantly more effective than those of PAE or NC alone for both OCC and SWBKP, although the combined PAE-NC treatment results in better performance enhancement for OCC than SWBKP handsheets, and the NC alone is more effective than PAE for SWBKP recycled paper and conversely for OCC recycled paper. SEM observations further confirmed that the combined PAE-NC addition treatment imparted a relatively uniform surface structure to the handsheet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The standardization of formal recycling and rational subsidy plays an important role in waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling. In order to explore the tripartite decision and evolution path of waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling in different time periods, a tripartite evolutionary game model consisting of recyclers, manufacturers, and government are presented. Moreover, the evolution stability strategies and conditions in each period are calculated by replicating the dynamic equation and Jacobian matrix. Numerical simulations on tripartite evolution stability strategies corresponding to different stages of industry development are used to verify the rationality of the model. The results indicate that there is existed an indirect effect between tripartite decisions, and the indirect effect can expand the slack of tripartite decisions' thresholds of waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling. The variable subsidy in waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling proposed in this paper is useful to incentive recyclers to choose a formal recycling strategy, and manufacturers also choose production with recycled materials as subsidy varies. Besides, the appropriate waste electrical and electronic equipment processing fee is a conducive indirect effect for the tripartite decision to the optimal evolutionary stability strategy in waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling and can promote manufacturers to produce with the recycled materials. The research can assist in benefit coordination and behavior adjustment of waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling members and provide a theoretical basis for the government to formulate appropriate recycling subsidies to promote the formal recycling of electronic waste recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review focuses on polymeric waste-paper composites, including state-of-the-art analysis with quantitative and qualitative discussions. Waste paper is a valuable cellulose-rich material, produced mainly from office paper, newspaper, and paper sludge, which can be recycled and returned to paper production or used in a new life cycle. A systematic literature review found 75 publications on this material over the last 27 years, with half of those published during the last five years. These data represent an increasing trend in the number of publications and citations that have shown an interest in this field. Most of them investigated the physicomechanical properties of composites using different contents of raw waste paper or the treated, modified, and cellulose-extracted types. The results show that polyethylene and polypropylene are the most used matrices, but polylactic acid, a biodegradable/sourced polymer, has the most citations. The scientific relevance of waste-paper composites as a subject includes the increasing trend of the number of publications and citations over the years, as well as the gaps identified by keyword mapping and the qualitative discussion of the papers. Therefore, biopolymers and biobased polymers could be investigated more, as well as novel applications. The environmental impact in terms of stability and degradation should also receive more attention regarding sustainability and life cycle analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evolution is one recurrent phenomenon that affects almost every facet of human endeavour. Libraries have had their own share in many ways. The green library concept, although, a relatively new-sprung initiative, have not been given full attention. The understanding of librarians, and the levels of adoption of the green library concept in Nigeria is reported herein. The descriptive survey approach was used. Results showed that librarians have the right perception about the concept, and have implemented or currently translating their policies, practices, and services in compliance with environmental sustainability objectives. However, much more needs to be done as the libraries also have not sufficiently engaged in climate change sensitization activities with patrons or their immediate community. The libraries do not collect rain water, recycle paper or reduce the use of plastics as stipulated. In implementing the initiative, low awareness, poor funding, lack of collaboration with environmental agencies among others have bedeviled their efforts. The establishment of a Nigerian Green Building Council (NGBC) for building standardisation with the support of the Nigerian Library Association is thus recommended for on-thespot redesigning of already built antique libraries. It is also pertinent to begin inspiring green architectural projects especially for newly proposed library buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]