ISO TC 46/SC 10/WG 1 (referred to here as "the ISO working group") met in May in London to continue its work on an international standard for paper permanence, CD 9706, "Paper for Documents. Requirements for Permanence." Comments from the last ballot were discussed, and disagreements resolved , except regarding the objections from Australia. Now it goes to the full committee for a ballot, and approval is expected; but it will not be an approved standard until it has circulated for six months as a Draft International Standard (DIS). It is possible that the standard could be ready for publication early next year.
The most significant development in this last round of balloting is that the ISO working group agreed that we do not really know yet whether calcium carbonate filler can give permanence to lignin-containing paper. Perhaps one day buffered groundwood papers may meet the requirements for permanence in an international standard, but it looks like they will not qualify on this go-round. 0
The ISO draft standard is based on the American standard, ANSI Z39.48, and will form the basis for a European standard under CEN, the European Standardization Organization.
Science News for May 9 reports the invention of a form of calcium carbonate with crystals between 0.2 and 0.4 microns in diameter, ideal for light refraction. This new form may make it less necessary to add expensive titanium dioxide to enhance brightness. The research was reported by June Passaretti of Pfizer, who says the new form is "clearly better" than the 15 or so other types of precipitated calcium carbonate. The shape is that of a twisted cube; the size was attained only by chemically modifying the crystals as they develop, because merely modifying reaction conditions did not work.
The main advantage of calcium carbonate over titanium dioxide as a brightener is that it is cheaper. Another advantage, appreciated by converters and printers, is that it is less abrasive and makes slitters and trimmer knives last longer.
Research performed at SUNY Syracuse by Raymond Francis and coworkers has resulted in a method of retarding the darkening of paper containing lignin, according to a report in the June issue of PIMA Magazine. Sodium formate, used together with calcium carbonate, can decrease yellowing by as much as 70%. Paper Age, which summarized the patent on the process, said that trace amounts of copper sulfate and ascorbic acid enhanced performance, and that the product was safe and nontoxic.
The Chicago-based Arthur Salm Foundation began a program of testing the permanence of stamp collectors' materials last year (Alkaline Paper Advocate, Nov. 1991, p. 45). Each year the Foundation has a different kind of material tested. Last year it was album pages; this year it was stamp hinges and some additional album pages and other materials; next year it will be plastics. Report Number 1, on album pages, was very popular: 5,800 copies have been sent out so far, and some supply sources have since announced that they are switching to alkaline paper.
Twelve brands of stamp hinges were tested for pH, ease of removal ("Peel and Tear"), taste and adhesion. Only one of them, the Novofold hinge, had an alkaline pH, and it was made in Sweden. The rest, all made in the U.S., had a pH of 5.77 or less.
The Novofold, a glassine hinge, had an alkaline reserve and an alkaline starch-based adhesive. Its pH declined from 7.11 to 6.72 during an unspecified period of accelerated aging.
This report (Number 2) is available without charge for a business-length self-addressed envelope from Arthur Salm Foundation, 1029 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, IL 60610. Report Number 1 is available for $1 and a self-addressed envelope, while supplies last.
One paragraph in the hinge report bears quoting in its entirety:
There is no reason why an acid-free hinge cannot be manufactured in the U.S. The Arthur Salm Foundation is not a research group, but only tests products that are already on the market. We offer this data in the hope that some manufacturer will read it and produce an alkaline hinge for the benefit of everyone.
Charlie Kumpa and his son John operate Pinnacle Industries, which specializes in alternative uses for clean old newsprint, and gets its raw material from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, a lot of it over4ssue from printing companies, preferably straight black-and-white. Since 1977 they have made it into housing insulation, grinding it and impregnating it with fire retardant; they also make Evergreen Fiber Mulch, which is green-colored ground-up newsprint, to help grass seeds germinate more quickly; and a sterile bedding for horses, Bio-Bed, which is more absorbent than wood chips and shavings. (This information comes from the Paper Stock Report for March 2, 1992.)
Two recent meetings of TAPPI regional sections had programs on alkaline papermaking not counting the Ohio Section's program in March. The Gulf Coast and Southwest sections held a joint program on January 16, with three panels, one of which was on alkaline papermaking. Ray Hollingsworth spoke on "The Benefits of Kaolin, Ground Calcium Carbonate and PCC in Alkaline Papermaking," and Betty Moyers spoke on "Alkaline Papermaking Troubleshooting." Other talks concerned on-line fiber charge analysis and changes to anticipate in control of microbial growth when converting from acid to neutral/alkaline papermaking.
The Delaware Valley Section met June 4 and heard Joseph MacDowell's presentation on "Alkaline Sizing" which reviewed Glatfelter's experiences.
NeutraPac, a neutral rosin sizing put on the market at the beginning of 1989, was designed by Albright & Wilson Americas and the General Chemical Corporation to run at a pH of 7.2-7.5, which permits the use of calcium carbonate. It is described in the January 1990 Pulp & Paper in an article by Brian Herner, 'Neutral Sizing System Allows Fast, Easy Conversion for Acid Machines."
Since then, other neutral sizes have been marketed. Georgia Pacific Resins announced its NovaPlus Neutral Rosin Size, which is designed for mills generating coated broke or purchasing recycled office waste containing CaCO3, in the May Tappi Journal. A new rosin size called NeuSize 700 that operates at pH 6.3-7.5 was announced in the Japan Tappi Journal for January. All three were developed to offer an alternative to mills that were having problems with AKD or ASA. None of the announcements specifically mentions either " of reactive synthetic size, but all mention problems often associated with them (see "The Trouble with Alkaline Chemistry" in the last issue).
Research at Oregon State University, reported in the March and May issues of the Tappi Journal, shows that there are many other compounds besides alum that can act as mordants for rosin, that is, that can hold it onto the fibers. The compounds reported in the March issue, p. 23 ff, act over a pH range from 3.0 to 8.0, and include chlorides and sulfates of cerium, dysprosium, erbium, europium, gallium and lanthanum. The May issue reports research results with rosin soaps and polyamines over a pH range from 3.0 to 10.0. The most effective mordant was polyallylamine, which, the authors say, "was extraordinarily more effective than rosin-alum sizing at pH 4.5" and works up to pH 10.0. Although this is big news, it is only lab work, and is not yet applied in any paper mill.
Voluntary office recycling programs are growing, but there is no place to put all the paper they accumulate, because the deinking plants to which they might be sent have not been built yet, or have not been expanded yet. But beginning next year, and continuing through 1995, deinking capacity will double, as 12 new plants are put into operation and other plants enlarged. Over half of the production of these plants will be marketed as high-quality office wastepaper (OWP), which goes into printing/writing paper, tissue and market pulp; the rest will be marketed as low-quality OWP, which goes into paperboard and packaging.
This information is from the May Pulp & Paper, p. 91-94. The authors, Fred D. Iannazzi and Richard Strauss, are with Andover International Associates in Danvers, Massachusetts. They go on to say that
Through 1993, the entire requirement for high-quality 0WP can be supplied by preconsumer waste [emphasis added]. Consequently, no net present demand exists for the OWP being collected rather laboriously at in-office segregation programs.
According to Richard Barnett, whose paper on federal use of permanence standards appears in this issue, the Government Printing Office feels that recycled content in archival papers should be limited to preconsumer or post-industrial types of waste.
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