We show here that good recyclability of HP-Indigo printed media and mixed office waste can be achieved at pilot scale while using our environmentally benign near-neutral deinking chemistry (coded HPES). The pilot trials were performed in a fashion that closely depicts a standard production operation. Various key attributes, such as the optical brightness, dirt count, ERIC value, ash content, and pH, of the accepts and rejects were closely monitored at critical stages of the recycling process. Encouraging statistical data of these various key indicators, for mixed office waste with varying amounts of HP-Indigo printed media (from 0% to 100%), suggest a recovered pulp quality which closely matches that would achieve regularly in a commercial recycling mill. It is noteworthy to point out that good recyclability of HP-Indigo printed media can be accomplished irrespective of the ink coverage and media types.
Hou T. Ng, Manoj Bhattacharyya, Laurie Mittelstadt, Eric G. Hanson, "Pilot-Scale Recycling of HP-Indigo Printed Media and Mixed Office Waste" in Proc. IS&T Int'l Conf. on Digital Printing Technologies and Digital Fabrication (NIP26), 2010, pp 88 - 91, https://doi.org/10.2352/ISSN.2169-4451.2010.26.1.art00024_1