Valorization of mixed office waste as macro-, micro-, and nano-sized particles in recycled paper containerboards for enhanced performance and improved environmental perception
by Lisandra Chacon, Nathalie Lavoine and Richard A. Venditti, published in Resources, Conservation and Recycling.
Abstract
Recent surveys have shown that consumers do not know how to recognize sustainable packaging and are misled by the excessive usage of environmental clues by the packaging industry. A better approach to communicate sustainability is therefore needed to promote purchasing towards sustainable products. This study proposes to re-design recycled paper-based containers so that consumers easily recognize visually large contaminants in the paper influencing the consumer to refer to this product as recycled and perceive it as sustainable. To this end, the appearance of recycled containers from old corrugated containers (OCC) was intentionally altered with the addition of processed mixed office waste (MOW) of distinct average aspect ratio (AR) (length divided by width), namely 52 (macro-scale), 72 (micro-scale), and 163 (nano-scale), to produce recycled paperboards with visually noticeable recycled contents. The addition of MOW with the lowest AR resulted in visible particles on the surface of paperboards, evidencing the presence of recycled materials. The mechanical performance with this material, however, decreased. On the other hand, the addition of MOW with the highest AR improved the mechanical properties of the paperboards similar to the addition of nanocellulose but with less obvious cues of it having recycled content in the product. Thus, the combination of low and high AR contaminants is suggested to strategically engineer sustainable packaging with high performance and clear visual clues of recycled content and positive environmental perception.