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Technology Finds New Uses For Old Newspapers

New technology is seeing old newspapers finding new life in some new and unusual ways.

At OneSteel's Steelworks at Whyalla, South Australia, recycled newsprint is being used as a dust suppressant. The newspapers are hydro-mulched and sprayed over stockpiles of coal, pelletised iron ore and blended iron ore fines.

This is proving successful in reducing the amount of dust that is blown from the stockpiles. Spraying of the paper pulp was trialled and then introduced during 2003.

Spraying paper pulp

A more common and conventional use for old newspapers is to recycle them into new newsprint after de-inking at the Norske Skog plant in Albury. Old newspapers are also used in cardboard manufacture in Australia, exported to Asia for newsprint production, and made into home insulation 'wool' and other products like egg cartons.

Some also goes to 'Alternative Waste Technologies' - into large-scale compost digesters. PNEB executive director Frank Kelett sees this as a less desirable outcome than recovery for reuse.

" While we are pleased to see old newspapers being diverted from landfill, destroying them to make compost is the least desirable financial, social and environmental outcome," Mr Kelett said. "De-inking the old newspapers (and old magazines) to make new newsprint means the fibre can be reused, again and again."
Mr Kelett said the paper pulp mixture used in Whyalla could be suitable as a medium for direct seeding of ground cover in areas like parks and golf courses, providing a permanent and environmentally friendly solution to dust suppression and the greening of local areas.