The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-09-19
Frederick Haskin's Letter
DE-INkING OLD NEWSPAPERS


by use Of alkalies. Such Treatment
will not injure ground wood puIn
and If the carbon black could he
completely washed out after liner.
alton satisfactory material would
be- obtained. Unfortunately the
fibres Of the paper stock serve al
very effective filter III enmeshinr
the particles OF carbon and there
are no means OF washing in com.
mon use DAT will permit their com.
plete removal without excessive
losses of pulp or expenditures az
time, water and power that are pro-
hibitive. In fact point seems IN
be reached beyond which it is i'm.
possible to remove the remaining
traces Of ink. With bentonite. hov.
ever, we have substance that will
pass through ordinary filters and
with its enormous surface, on &c.
count of the extreme fineness of its
particles, will carry all the carbon
black along with it."
Best Supply From wyoming.
Bentonite is defined by the geo.
logical survey as "a transported.
stratified, volcanic ash that has
been altered shortly after deposit
ton" It is very fine grained and
has the property of swelling in con-
tact with water to several times its
original volume. Like any natural
product different deposits vary con-
siderably and Mr.. Wells says that
the best supply that has come to
his notice is found in Wyoming.
1.-The possibilities of a process for
the recovery of old newspaper stock
are apparent to anyone familiar
with the paper industry" says Mr..
Wells. when the price paid for
old paper stimulated collection it is
reported that about $4,000 tons per
month were collected in Chiongo.
Of which 40 per cent was news
During the same period Cleveland
is reported to have handled $50 tons
per day of which $50 tons were
news. In our large metropolitan
centers probably $500 tons per day
collected which would furnish a
very considerable portion Of our
daily consumption of 1000 tons Of
newsprint. The source of this raw
material is furthermore at the place
of consumption and the saving in
freight is very important item.
The color requirements of the pub
fishers at the present time are very
severe and any process that does
not thoroughly remove ink cannot
be successful. While considerable
difficulty was encountered in meet
ing these requirements, in our trials
the results obtained as the process
has been finally worked out seem
to justify our belief that they can
be met"
The logical location for de-inking
I plants, according to~.the experts,
will be in a number Of the larger
urban centers where the supply Of
raw material-Old newspapers-iS
great and most readily obtained
with a minimum of handling and
hauling charges, and where, in turn,
the demand for newsprint is great
est
The utilization of the de-inking
process therefore will not benefit
materially existing paper mills
which are in most instances located
near their original sources of pulp
wood in somewhat isolated and
small communities. However, from
a raw material standpoint, especial
'ly in its forest depletion phase. the
wide application of the de-inking OF
old newspapers has potentially .
very important bearing on the for
estry problem in America today. y
In the experiments conducted by
Mr.. Wells it was found that there
was only a loss of from 8 to 10 Fer
cent in bulk, That is to say, 100
; tons of old newspapers would pro-
duce at least 80 tons of pulp with
which to manufacture new paper.
Newspapers, save for the few that
. are preserved in files, are all waste
latter they are q day or SO old, and
accordingly if all the 1000 tons OF
, inewsprint used daily could be made
: available for misunderstanding pur-
, poses it is obvious that the inroads
which the paper industry makes on
spruce forests might be reduced un-
It'll under reforestation work the
, supply would easily keep pace win
: the demand.