The Problem/Opportunity

Several hundred million metric tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) is disposed of in Canada and the United States annually. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s study on municipal solid waste generation, recycling, and disposal found that there was 250,000,000 metric tons of MSW disposed of in the United States in 2010 alone. The figure below shows the weight generated per year of some of the major constituent materials of the MSW from 1960 to 2010 in the United States. Over the last few decades, the generation of MSW has changed substantially. Solid waste generation has increased from 3.66 to 4.43 pounds per person per day between 1980 and 2010. Additionally, over the past 5 years paper products alone have accounted for 31% of the total MSW by weight before recycling.

Due to environmental concern, government regulations and economic considerations, there has been a consistent increased effort in recycling endeavours over the past years. Recycling rates have increased from less than 10% of MSW generated in 1980 to about 34% in 2010. Additionally, the disposal of waste to a landfill has decreased from 89% of the amount generated in 1980 to about 54% of MSW in 2010. As seen in the figure below, the highest recovery rates in 2010 were achieved with paper and paperboard products. More than 62 percent of the paper generated was recycled. As a result, recycling paper products not only affects the upstream processes in paper production (where raw materials are acquired), but also has consequences on the downstream portion of paper use (waste-disposal).

Recycled paper processing plants use paper as their feedstock and recover fibre that can be used to produce new paper products. Paper is essentially composed of a fibre mat. Virgin fibres are straight, smooth and largely undamaged. However, to make a quality piece of paper, the fibres must be flattened to increase contact area and bond potential between them. Additionally, in the paper recycling process, fibres are subjected to a number of chemical and mechanical processes which decrease the length of the fibres. As a result, paper fibre cannot be recycled endlessly. It is generally accepted that a fibre can be used six to seven times before it becomes too short to be utilized in new paper products.

Actually, this unusable fibre accounts for 15-20% of the recycled fibres fed to the recycling plant and are considered waste. Paper recycling companies pay to have this waste buried in a landfill or sent out in a waste waster stream. Where others see waste, Upcycled Aromatics sees opportunity.

The major constituent of these paper fibres is cellulose, a homopolysaccharide made up of β-D-glucose. Ergo, the unusable, short fibre in the waste stream of paper recycling plants is a significant source of potentially exploitable cellulose. This feedstock is more attractive than other lignocellulosic biomass because it is processed prior to its utilization and requires no pre-treatment or transportation as a result. Also, for the recycling plant, value is added to their waste stream and there is a more sustainable solution for an already green industry.

On the other end, aromatics represent a potentially lucrative chemical endpoint for this cellulose, having high price per unit mass and a variety of applications as entry point chemicals in a number of industries. Pharmaceticals, plastics, scents, and flavorings are a few of the potential end products for the aromatic compounds. The conversion of this waste into valuable industrial chemicals is a relatively unexplored business opportunity and is desirable from the standpoint of green and clean processing.