Paper recycling continues to increase in the United States, with public support and legislative mandates helping boost recycling of all paper grades. Office waste paper is a significant source of high grade paper fiber for recycling, but is currently underutilized, due to the challenges of fully removing xerographic and laser printer toner. These so called "laser inks" are designed to fuse to the page during printing and tend to resist removal by conventional deinking processes. In a Phase I SBIR grant, AVEKA Inc. proposed the development of novel toners that would improve office paper deinking performance by reformulating the toner. The Phase I results indicate that toner deinking can be improved, in some cases dramatically, with this approach, which targets the active components directly to the toner-fiber interface. This "Near Field Effect" targeting improves deinking while minimizing additives already used by the recycling industry.This Phase II proposal lays out a research plan to 1) optimize the reformulated toners to achieve maximum deinking performance, and 2) work with xerographic copier manufacturers to develop and test a commercially viable, environmentally friendly toner.
Anticipated Results/Potential Commercial Applications of Research:A toner that can more easily be removed from repulped paper will improve the quality of deinked pulp, increase yield of recycled pulp, and decrease the fiber waste from the current process, lowering waste disposal costs. Targeting the additives that aid deinking directly to the toner particle optimizes the use of these chemicals, lowering operating costs, removing process uncertainties, and lowering the chemical/biological oxygen demand of process water in the recycling plant. A "green" toner should prove to be attractive to environmentally conscious consumers and with public sector purchasers under legislative mandate to select products that support paper recycling.