GP to install new recycling technology at Oregon mill

Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific (GP) has announced plans to introduce a new method for recycling paper at its paperboard mill in Toledo, Oregon. Called Juno Technology, it aims to access fiber previously destined for landfills because of high levels of contamination and mixed material.

In a statement posted to the Oregon Coast Daily News website, GP Toledo mill Public Affairs Manager C.J. Drake says much of the targeted waste consists of paper-based products that are proving difficult to recycle.

“The patented process we’ve developed – which we are calling Juno Technology – can recover more fiber and reduce waste more sustainably,” says Drake.

Juno Technology has been designed to allow the GP mill to extract the usable fiber from landfill waste and feed it into the mill’s existing pulping process, while stripping away plastic coatings and food contamination that make many paper products unrecyclable. Other recovered items can be returned to their respective recycling streams while diverting millions of tons of waste from landfills, according to GP.

The company has tested the technology on a pilot scale at other facilities, but Drake indicates the company will use the process on a commercial scale for the first time at its Toledo plant.

The company hopes to use around 300 tons of the mixed paper material per day at the Toledo mill, according to one media report.

In the Juno process, mixed paper grades will be loaded into a pressure vessel and mixed with water. The contents are pressurized and heated to 212 degrees Fahrenheit or higher while the vessel is rotated, and the contents are churned together.

A screening device separates the partially re-pulped recovered fiber, which then goes into a pulping machine to make new rolls of containerboard.

The feedstock for the Juno process will arrive at the Toledo plant in the form of one-ton bales of commercial waste collected from sources such as fast food restaurants, airports, sports arenas, large office buildings and schools, news outlets in Oregon are reporting.

GP reportedly plans to have the Juno Technology up and running in Toledo by early 2020.