Radiata Pine Thinnings
Australian made newsprint contains from 20-40% recycled fibre from old newspapers and magazines. The rest is wood fibre from sustainably managed radiata pine plantations and, in Tasmania, some eucalypt re-growth.

The wood fibre comes from forest thinnings (small trees that are removed from plantations to allow room for the others to grow) and sawlog off-cuts, which are both waste products of the timber industry.

De-barking Drum
The de-barking drum at the newsprint mill strips bark from the logs. The bark is then used as fuel to produce steam for paper drying.

Chipper
The Chipper converts the logs into woodchips. Whirling blades in the chipper break the wood down into small pieces.

Thermomechanical Refiner
The thermomechanical refiner uses heat to soften the woodchips. Rotating grooved steel plates, driven by powerful electric motors, then mechanically separate the individual wood fibres to produce pulp.

Paper Making Machine
At the front of the paper making machine, known as the 'Wet End', the paper pulp, mixed with water, is laid out on a wire screen. Excess water is removed by vacuum and the fibres left behind bind together to form a web of wet paper. The wet paper sheet passes through presses to remove more water and then over a series of stream-heated drying cylinders.

At the 'Dry End' of the machine, the paper emerges and passes through smoothing rolls before being wound onto an 8.5m wide jumbo reel. An overhead crane transfers the jumbo reel to a winder, which cuts and rewinds the newsprint into the widths required by customers.

Newsprint
Newsprint is the paper on which newspapers are printed. The paper must be as light as possible, whilst still retaining the strength and printability necessary for our daily newspapers.

Each year around 160,000 tonnes of old newspapers and magazines are used in Australia in the manufacture of newsprint.

Kerbside Collection
Not all newspapers and magazines can be recovered for recycling. Some are reused around the home instead, whilst in some remote areas it is just not environmentally efficient to transport small quantities of old newspapers and magazines over huge distances for recycling.

In most areas of Australia though, kerbside collection has made newspaper and magazine recycling very successful.

After Collection
Old newspapers and magazines are mixed with water and agitated in a pulping vat to make a slush, called "pulp". Small quantities of caustic soda, sodium silicate and hydrogen peroxide help the repulping and brightening process. Hydrogen peroxide does not produce dioxins and breaks down to harmless water and oxygen. Impurities like staples and binding materials are removed by screens.

De-inking
De-inking is achieved by mixing the slush with soap and blowing air through the mixture to create an ink residue. The ink residue is removed and mixed with other mill waste to produce a material that looks like dried porridge and is in demand by farmers around Albury as a soil conditioner that improves the texture and drainage properties of soil. It meets the NSW Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines for biosolids applied to agricultural land.

Process water undergoes three separate purifying treatments and is used to irrigate pine plantations which have been established on nearby company land.

Cleaning and Fine Screening
Cleaning and fine screening remove impurities from the pulp.

Thermomechanical Refiner and Recycled Pulp Mix
The thermomechanical refiner and recycled pulp are mixed together. The stock is then screened and colour-corrected.

During the recycling process, the fibres are broken down and eventually become so small they are lost from the process. Virgin wood pulp is mixed with the recycled pulp to replace lost fibres and to maintain the strength of the paper.

Newsprint does not require brightening to the same extent as fine grades of paper. The chemical used for brightening de-inked pulp (hydrogen peroxide) does not produce dioxins and breaks down to harmless water and oxygen. Sodium hydorsulphite is used for reductive bleaching of raw wood pulp.

Water
Fresh water and re-used water is added to produce a stock comprising 99% water and 1% pulp fibre.