Jules van Lier wrote:
>Are there no possibilities to reuse the pulp in their (or others) production process?

The answer is NO - at least, currently.  In fact, many thousands of people all over the world are looking for an answer, and the above suggestion would be the easiest one, if would have been possible.

BACKGROUND: A typical recycling mill processes 600 tons of wastepaper per day, yielding 450 tons of pulp and producing 150 tons of papermaking sludge (which compositionally is pretty much close to that of common paper).  The 228 mills currently under operation in North America produce 9 million tons of pulp residue (=papermaking sludge), approximately 5 million tons of which is cellulose.  The 154 European pulp and paper mills produce about 8 million tons of pulp residue, approximately 4 million tons of which is cellulose.  Practically ALL that amount goes in one direction - PLAIN WASTE: either landfilling, or incineration. The material is a tough nut to find a home for it.  Too much of it and too inconvenient composition: short fiber mixed with minerals (mainly calcium carbonate and clay/kaolin).  It cannot be returned to the papermaking process - too short fiber.

It would be great if a solution is found.  So far - not found (except some minor ways).

ADDITION (of May, 2000): A solution is FOUND. Our company, Thermo FiberGen (see the green logo and the link on this web page) has developed an industrial process for a large scale utilization of papermaking sludge. Watch the stock (TFG) and financial statements posted on the FiberGen website.

Anatole Klyosov