Electronic Parts/Guidelines - infoHouse

3.2.2 Industry Activities
As a result of increasing concern over the ecological effects of organochlorines,
many paper companies are implementing site specific process modifications at
their mills, These modifications are responsible for significant reductions in the
generation of these organochlorines. These process alterations include:
Reduction of pulp lignin prior to bleaching through extended delignification
(cooking)
Elimination of non-chlorinated dioxin in pulp washing defoamers
Reduced use of chlorine gas in the bleaching process by,
a. The use of peroxide in early stages of multi-stage bleaching processes
b. The use of less chlorine gas through substitution of chlorine dioxide
Additionally, NCASl is undertaking studies to identify elements of the production
process which appear to be involved in the formation of dioxin.
3.2.3 LegislatlonlRegulation
Water discharge permits for pulp mills typically place limitation on only three
properties of the effluent: biological oxygen demand (BOD) which measures
organic and easily degradable compounds, total suspended solids (TSS) which
measures the amount of fibers and other wood particles discharged, and pH
which measures acidity. None of these items measure the presence of chemicals
in the effluent, and they ignore the persistent organochlorines that are a
by-product of bleaching.
Though many pulp mills employ biological treatment ponds or aerated lagoons
to treat effluent before discharge, these facilities are generally ineffective against
organochlorines because they resist biological breakdown. Dioxin-containing
sludge from the settling ponds is not regulated as a hazardous waste.
3.2.4 Recommendations
The linkage between the manufacture, use, and disposal of bleached paper pro-
ducts and the presence of some portion of the toxic organochlorines found in the
environment has been established by authoritative investigation. It follows that a
reduced demand for bleached paper products will correspondingly reduce the
potential for ecological contamination by these compounds.
14 Environmental Packaalna Guidelines
In addition to the concerns associated with organochlorine generation, it must
also be understood that bleached paper is manufactured from virgin fibre. This
circumstance creates further demand on our forest resources and reduces
opportunity for the use of recycled fibre.
When designing an environmentally-sound package, thorough consideration
should be given to eliminating or significantly reducing the requirement for
bleached corrugated liner and paperboard. Our environmental hierarchy is presented
below. Environmentally superior characteristics are identified first, less
desirable appear last:
1. Specify unbleached “natural” material, or
2. Specify color-coated unbleached material (See Table 2 on page 15 for a
partial listing of Corrugated coating manufacturers), or