2022 article

Developing Alternative, High-Absorbency Brown Fibers: Tissue Paper from Upcycled Corrugated Packaging Waste to Meet New Consumer Trends

Zambrano, F., Marquez, R., Vera, R., Jameel, H., Venditti, R., & Gonzalez, R. (2022, September 27). ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING.

co-author countries: United States of America 🇺🇸
author keywords: tissue paper; old corrugated containerboard (OCC); upcycling; recycling; alternative fiber; paper waste; softness; absorption capacity and rate; China?s ?National Sword? policy
Source: Web Of Science
Added: October 17, 2022

Consumers’ rising interest in brown tissue papers, perceived as sustainable, has increased the market share and selling prices of such products despite their limited performance. Meanwhile, the current excess of packaging waste in the US has created an opportunity for using old corrugated containerboard (OCC) as an alternative source of brown pulp, despite its inferior tissue-making characteristics relative to bleached fibers. Strength, water absorption capacity, and absorption rate are among the crucial properties of absorbent tissue products. Herein, we studied the feasibility of total chlorine-free treatments, namely, oxygen delignification, alkaline hydrogen peroxide, and ozonation, to improve the tissue-making quality of OCC pulp. The processes evaluated reduced the lignin content (kappa number from 89 to values as low as 55) and generated brightness gains as high as 8.8% ISO units. The strength of the sheets also improved due to the delignification and increase in fiber swelling. Chemically treated OCC resulted in sheets with higher water absorption capacity and absorption rate and fiber slurries with higher freeness compared to sheets and slurries from mechanically refined OCC. Therefore, we demonstrate the application of treatments with low environmental impact to upcycle OCC into a high-quality brown pulp suitable for manufacturing high-performance tissue paper.