SOY CHEMICALS FOR PAPER PROCESSING - Soy New Uses

impact of stickies will continue to rise as lower quality recycle fiber is used to meetgrowing demand for recovered paper fiber.• Paper recycling process cost control. The use of recovered paper fiber is more costeffective than using virgin fiber. However, the recycling process requires more effectivetechnologies to produce better quality fibers, improve mill efficiency and reduce energy,water, waste disposal and chemical additive costs.BARRIERS TO ENTRYPaper chemical companies handle most paper mill development, as in-house R&D has all butdisappeared. A very sophisticated and complex chemical mix from pulping to paper furnish hascultivated a reliance on chemical suppliers for R&D and plant support. Success for a new soyentry would rely on a major pulp and paper chemical supplier to champion the product.• Bio-based materials make up a significant portion of the existing market. Newalternatives must be effective at a reasonable cost of use.• Large scale processes exhibit a great deal of inertia which resist change. Because of themulti-million dollars in capital equipment and high production speeds, failures can bevery costly resulting in a very risk-averse industry.• Commercial trials can be lengthy and difficult, particularly because a fundamentalunderstanding of all of the factors in papermaking is lacking. An in-depth knowledge ofthe chemical interactions of solids, colloids and solubles as well as the process dynamicsof high speed sheet formation is required in order to meet the chemical and physicaldemands of continuous wet mat formation.• Pulp and paper chemical environment involves heated, aqueous slurries with potentialfor mold growth. Data must be collected to test for and prevent contamination.• Collection of soy hulls in quantity may prove to be difficult to meet the needs of theindustry for alternate source of cellulose, especially as other options may be morereadily available. The penetration into some of these markets may be a lengthy andcostly process. Cellulose derivatives for tow fiber applications are highly regulated.COMMERCIALIZATION STRATEGIESBased on the nature and size of the paper industry, the recommended approach tocommercialization of soy products involves three key strategies: the larger commodity marketsof paper additives, niche markets and crossover technology transfer.35