[GreenYes] Recycling incompatible Hot glue on Recycling Today ad

["Reindl, John" <Reindl@no.address>]

The December issue of Recycling Today contains an ad for Riverside Products that is glued into the magazine with hot glue.

 

Neither the magazine nor the ad says anythign about the glue, so I assume that is the typical hot melt glue, which is a big problem for recycling. I urge all of you who receive this magazine to rip the ad out before the magazine is recycled and either throw away the ad or remove the hot melt glue and discard it. I would also urge you to contact the magazine (800-456-0707) and  Riverside Products (800-545-6221)a bout the problems caused by this glue.

 

The use of this glue by Recycling Today is especially problematic for several reasons. First, as a recycling magazine, one would hope that they would take the lead on producing a product that itself was recycling friendly. Both the article in the May issue of Resource Recycling should have educated Recycling Today on this issue and the trade association Magazine Publishers of America has launched a program on magazine recycling, which addreses the issue of non-compatible inserts (http://www.magazine.org/government_action/environment/21345.cfm), Second, the editor of the magazine, Brian Taylor, has been contacted on this issue before (we wrote to him on July 20th),so should have known about this issue.

 

For some background information, below is the email  from a paper recycling mill in Wisconsin to different solid waste industry magazine on the problems that this glue causes the paper mills.

 

Thanks much, and Happy Holidays,

 

John Reindl, Chair

Wisconsin Council on Recycling

 

........................

 

Bill,

 

The adhesive that is the least detrimental to paper recycling is the water-based or "lick-and-stick" type.  Second would be the hot-melt adhesive, where the fluidization or softening temperature of the adhesive is above that of the processing temperature in the recycle mill (approx 120 F).  "Peel-and-stick" adhesives, or pressure sensitive adhesives are very difficult to process and they have a specific gravity that is similar to the paper fibre itself - this means that only physical separation devices will work, such as screens, to remove the adhesive from the fibres. Screens, being mechanical devices, have a given efficiency.  If we use 95% efficiency as an example, then with 100 sticky particles in the pulper (initial processing stage where the recovered paper is mixed with water), then there will be 5 going forward to the paper machines.  When we get hit with a slug of adhesives, say 10,000 particles then there will be 500 going forward, creating severe problems on the paper machines. 

 

The adhesive we have been discussing below, the "snot" glue, or as we more colourfully refer to it "booger" glue (please accept my apologies for the use of such terms, but we tend to be a bit on the blunt side in the recycle mill), seems to combine the worst features of both the hot-melt and the pressure-sensitive glue in that it is a long string of adhesive, that softens easily at processing temperature and has a specific gravity very close to that of the fibres. 

 

Perhaps a dab of the old-fashioned water-based glues would work sufficiently to hold the advertisement to the magazine and also seal the flap of the advertisement?  However, I am sure there was a good technical issue why there was a movement away from the water-based glues to these newer type glues.  It certainly allows the advertisement to be removed from the magazine without tearing or marring the cover of the magazine.  A question may possibly be raised with your readership is if they would mind a small imperfection on the cover of the magazine to allow for a more "recycle-friendly" adhesive?

 

Thank you for taking the time to think over our problems, it is kind of you.

 

Regards,

 

Loreen Ferguson

 

Loreen Ferguson
Recycle Mill Manager
SCA North America, Tissue Division
Menasha Mill