Paper & Cardboard

In our processing plants we grade and sort paper products into five categories:

• Newspapers (or ONP for ‘old newsprint’)
• Magazines (OMG)
• Mixed paper (SMXD)
• White paper (SWL)
• Cardboard (OCC)

We bale these five types of paper separately in preparation for transport. Bales are sized for efficient packing on trucks and in containers and typically weigh about 750 kg each.

Overseas customers for our paper are in a number of countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Once received by our customer, reprocessing involves shredding and mixing the paper or cardboard with water in a machine that acts like a giant blender. This converts it to pulp, which is screened to catch things such as staples and paper clips, and cleaned to remove glues and other contaminants. It is then turned into paper again by removing the water, pressing through rollers, and drying.

Newspapers are commonly recycled into paperboard, new newsprint, insulation and animal bedding products. White paper is turned into writing paper, and tissue and towel products. Cardboard and corrugated paper can be used to make new paperboard and corrugated boxes. Telephone books are used to make such things as egg cartons and wine boxes. Mixed paper is often used as a low-grade additive for cardboard.

Compared to making paper products from raw materials, producing it from recycled stock uses up to 60% less water and 25 to 75% less energy (depending on the type of paper and processing). It also reduces polluting air emissions by up to 75% and polluting discharges to watercourses up to 35%.

Paper products have a good recycling life span. They can be used up to seven times before the fibres become too short to allow further use.