Total green exploitation of paper mill waste

One of the main problems of our society and in particular of a paper mill is the high generation of waste that is currently landfilled, causing environmental and economic problems. On this basis, it is urgent the development of sustainable strategies for valorizing these materials. This project studies the exploitation of two types of sludge produced from a paper mill located in Tuscany: a) a sludge rich in cellulose; b) a second one rich in inorganics. Regarding the first one, we investigated its conversion into added-value platforms and biofuels, in particular alkyl levulinates, by conversion of its C6 fraction through direct alcoholysis reaction. Regarding the inorganic-rich sludge, which is composed mainly of calcium carbonate and in minor amount of cellulosic fibers, two exploitation processes have been investigated: a) the integration of this inorganic sludge in different materials, such as bio-polymer composite, asphalt and glass, to be used as an alternative to traditional mineral fillers; b) the mechanical separation into its inorganic and organic components, in order to evaluate the recycle of the two components in the paper mill or in other industrial process.