Non-woven webs and methods of manufacturing the same

An industrial absorbent comprising:

• a non-woven web including
• cellulose particles formed from shredded, declumped, and sized recycled paper, the recycled paper being selected from at least one of a group of sources including a source of post-industrial paper and a source of post-consumer paper,
• opened, individuated bicomponent fibers mixed with the cellulose particles, at least some of the bicomponent fibers being thermally bonded to at least some of the cellulose particles to form the non-woven web, and
• at least one of the group of 1) an air-permeable layer of thermoplastic scrim, thermally bonded to an outer surface of the non-woven web and 2) a layer of netting attached to the non-woven web by being at least partially embedded within the non-woven web;
• wherein the cellulose particles are treated with a liquid fire-retardant and dried before being mixed with the bicomponent fibers;
• wherein the non-woven web has a bulk-to-weight ratio of about 20 to about 30 mils/osy;
• and
• wherein the non-woven web has a weight and an absorbency of about 11 to about 15 times the weight of the web.