# US 9,752,279 B2 · Integrated method and system for recycling waste material > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 9,752,279 B2 - Document ID: US9752279B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 14/861,551 - Filed: 2015-09-22 - Published: 2016-04-07 - Granted: 2017-09-05 - Earliest claimed: 2014-10-06 - Assignees: Georgia-Pacific Containerboard LLC - Applicants: Georgia-Pacific Containerboard LLC - Inventors: David Christer Henriksson; Wayne Frederick Winkler; Bradley E. Lucas; Paul Topping - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9752279B2 ## CPC - D21C 7/00: Digesters - D21B 1/02: Pretreatment of the raw materials by chemical or physical means (removal of bark B27L) - D21B 1/32: of waste paper - D21C 5/02: Working-up waste paper (mechanical part D21B1/08, D21B1/32) - Y02E 50/30: Fuel from waste, e.g. synthetic alcohol or diesel - Y02W 30/64: Paper recycling - D21C: PRODUCTION OF CELLULOSE BY REMOVING NON-CELLULOSE SUBSTANCES FROM CELLULOSE-CONTAINING MATERIALS; REGENERATION OF PULPING LIQUORS; APPARATUS THEREFOR - D21B: FIBROUS RAW MATERIALS OR THEIR MECHANICAL TREATMENT - Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION - Y02W: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO WASTEWATER TREATMENT OR WASTE MANAGEMENT ## Abstract Integrated methods and systems for recycling waste material including waste paper are provided, the methods including treating the waste material in the pressure vessel at an elevated processing temperature and an elevated processing pressure to form a treated waste material including a substantially re-pulped waste paper; discharging the treated waste material from the pressure vessel; and thereafter separating and diluting the treated waste material to dilute a portion including the substantially re-pulped waste paper to from about 1% to about 20% by weight solids. The recovered paper pulp fraction and substantially fiber-free recoverable/recyclable plastics and metals may be further separated and used as feedstock in a variety of subsequent processes. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for recycling waste material including waste paper comprising: introducing the waste material and water into a pressure vessel; treating the waste material in the pressure vessel at an elevated processing temperature of at least about 212° F. and an elevated processing pressure above atmospheric pressure to form a treated waste material including a substantially re-pulped waste paper; discharging the treated waste material from the pressure vessel; and thereafter separating the treated waste material with a screening device into a first portion and a second portion, the first portion comprising the substantially re-pulped waste paper and the second portion comprising large debris, wherein the step of separating further comprises washing the first portion through the screening device with an amount of water sufficient to dilute the first portion to from about 1% to about 20% by weight solids. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the discharged treated waste material has a temperature from about 110 to about 220° F. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the discharged treated waste material comprises solids present in the discharged treated waste material in an amount from about 5% to about 50% by weight of the discharged treated waste material. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first portion comprises solids present in the first portion from 3% to about 5% by weight solids. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first portion comprises substantially re-pulped waste paper present in the solids of the first portion in an amount from about 20% to about 90% by weight of the solids of the first portion. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the screening device comprises a plurality of openings having an average area from about 20 to about 400 mm2. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed on-site at an industrial facility with a water treatment facility. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising separating the substantially re-pulped waste paper from a majority of any non-cellulosic solids in the first portion using density separation, size separation, or combinations thereof. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising separating substantially fiber-free recoverable/recyclable plastics and metals from the second portion using a second separation device. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the second separation device comprises a trommel, a vibrating screen, or an air separator. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising sorting the substantially fiber-free recoverable/recyclable plastics and metals using one or more techniques selected from the group consisting of density separation, optical separation, and metal separation to separate recyclable metals and plastics. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the sorting of the substantially fiber-free recoverable/recyclable plastics and metals comprises separating ferrous metals using a magnet, and separating aluminum and non-ferrous metals using an eddy current. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the sorting of the substantially fiber-free recoverable/recyclable plastics and metals comprises optically sorting plastics to recover one or more of polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, and polystyrene. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising converting the substantially fiber-free recoverable plastics to a refuse derived fuel having an energy value of about 5,000 to about 15,000 BTU. ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising pyrolyzing the substantially fiber-free recoverable plastics to produce one or more products suitable for use as a fuel. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, further comprising shredding, compressing, and/or pelletizing the substantially fiber-free recoverable plastics to produce fuel cubes or pellets. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, further comprising mixing the substantially fiber-free recoverable plastics with rags and trash recovered from the second portion of the treated waste material to form a mixture, removing water from the mixture to provide a mixture having greater than about 75% by weight solids, and thereafter compressing the mixture to fuel cubes. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, further comprising mixing the substantially fiber-free recoverable plastics with rags and trash recovered from the second portion of the treated waste material to form a mixture, removing water from the mixture to provide a mixture having greater than about 90% by weight solids, shredding the mixture, and thereafter pelletizing the shredded mixture to fuel pellets. ### Claim 19 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, further comprising shredding the recovered PET to form PET flakes. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, further comprising forming the recovered PET flakes into a PET film. ### Claim 21 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising separating the substantially re-pulped waste paper from a majority of any non-cellulosic solids in the first portion using coarse screening, fine screening, or a combination thereof. ### Claim 22 (depends on 21) The method of claim 21, further comprising mechanically dewatering the separated substantially re-pulped waste paper to remove at least a portion of liquids and solubilized organics from the separated substantially re-pulped waste paper. ### Claim 23 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein the dewatered substantially re-pulped waste paper comprises cellulosic materials in an amount greater than about 30% of the dewatered substantially re-pulped waste paper. ### Claim 24 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein the dewatered substantially re-pulped waste paper is characterized by a biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) content of less than about 50 lb/t of dry fiber. ### Claim 25 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein the dewatered substantially re-pulped waste paper is characterized by a biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) content that is less than about 50% of the BOD content of the untreated waste material. ### Claim 26 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein the filtrate removed during dewatering the substantially re-pulped waste paper comprises less than about 0.2% by weight suspended solids and about 90% of the soluble biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) as the substantially re-pulped waste paper. ### Claim 27 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, further comprising treating at least a portion of the liquids and solubilized organics removed from the substantially re-pulped waste paper in an anaerobic digester to produce a biogas. ### Claim 28 (depends on 27) The method of claim 27, further comprising converting the biogas to energy. ### Claim 29 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising preparing a post-consumer paper-containing product comprising the substantially re-pulped waste paper. ### Claim 30 (depends on 29) The method of claim 29, wherein the post-consumer paper-containing product comprises a paperboard product, an absorbent paper product, a tissue paper product, a paper towel product, a newsprint paper product, a cardboard product, or a combination thereof. ### Claim 31 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising converting at least a portion of the substantially re-pulped waste paper to one or more furaldehydes, organic acids, organic acid degradation products, or combinations thereof. ### Claim 32 (depends on 31) The method of claim 31, wherein converting the substantially re-pulped waste paper comprises hydrolyzing cellulose present in the substantially re-pulped waste paper to glucose, and thereafter converting the glucose to one or more furaldehydes, organic acids, organic acid degradation products, or combinations thereof. ### Claim 33 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed on-site at a pulp and/or paper mill, the method further comprising: separating the substantially re-pulped waste paper from a majority of any non-cellulosic solids in the first portion; mechanically dewatering the separated substantially re-pulped waste paper to remove at least a portion of liquids and solubilized organics; preparing a post-consumer paper-containing product comprising at least a portion of the dewatered substantially re-pulped waste paper; and treating at least a portion of the liquids and solubilized organics in an anaerobic digester to produce a biogas for energy. ### Claim 34 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed on-site at a pulp and paper mill, the method further comprising: separating the substantially re-pulped waste paper from a majority of any non-cellulosic solids in the first portion; and either preparing a post-consumer paper-containing product comprising at least a portion of the substantially re-pulped waste paper; converting at least a portion of the separated substantially re-pulped waste paper to one or more furaldehydes, organic acids, organic acid degradation products, or combinations thereof; or combinations thereof. ### Claim 35 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: separating the substantially re-pulped waste paper from a majority of any non-cellulosic solids in the first portion; separating the substantially fiber-free recoverable/recyclable plastics in the second portion; and either converting the substantially fiber-free recoverable/recyclable plastics to a refuse derived fuel having an energy value of greater than about 5,000 BTU; pyrolyzing the separated substantially fiber-free recoverable/recyclable plastics to produce one or more products suitable for use as a fuel; optically sorting polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from the substantially fiber-free recoverable/recyclable plastics and shredding the PET to form PET flakes; or combinations thereof. ### Claim 36 (depends on 35) The method of claim 35, wherein the method is performed on-site at a pulp and/or paper mill. ### Claim 37 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed on-site at a pulp and/or paper mill, the method further comprising: separating the substantially re-pulped waste paper from a majority of any non-cellulosic solids in the first portion; separating the substantially fiber-free recoverable/recyclable plastics in the second portion; and mechanically dewatering the separated substantially re-pulped waste paper to remove at least a portion of liquids and solubilized organics; either preparing a post-consumer paper-containing product comprising at least a portion of the substantially re-pulped waste paper; converting at least a portion of the separated substantially re-pulped waste paper to one or more organic acids, organic acid degradation products, or combinations thereof; or combinations thereof; either converting the substantially fiber-free recoverable/recyclable plastics to a refuse derived fuel having an energy value of greater than about 5,000 BTU; pyrolyzing the separated substantially fiber-free recoverable/recyclable plastics to produce one or more products suitable for use as a fuel; optically sorting polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from the substantially fiber-free recoverable/recyclable plastics and shredding the PET to form PET flakes; or combinations thereof; and treating at least a portion of the liquids and solubilized organics in an anaerobic digester to produce a biogas for energy.