Application of mineral processing techniques to the recycling of wastepaper

The recycling of wastepaper has become an important and common process worldwide. Techniques similar to those used in the mineral processing industry are used to produce high quality recycled fibres; for use in newsprint The mineral processing group at McGill University, in conjunction with the Pulp and Paper industry (Mechanical and Chemi-mechanical Wood Pulp Network), has adapted one of these techniques, column flotation, for the purpose of deinking wastepaper. This article describes the typical process of recycling wastepaper from a mineral processing point of view. It also presents results from McGill University's flotation column test work at a Quebec wastepaper recycling facility.