Volume 16 Issue 4

The pulp and paper industry is highly energy-intensive. In mills that use chemical pulping, roughly half of the higher heating value of the cellulosic material used to manufacture the product typically is incinerated to generate steam and electricity that is needed to run the processes. Additional energy, much of it non-renewable, needs to be purchased. This review considers publications describing steps that pulp and paper facilities can take to operate more efficiently. Savings can be achieved, for instance, by minimizing unnecessary losses in exergy, which can be defined as the energy content relative to a standard ambient condition. Throughout the long series of unit operations comprising the conversion of wood material to sheets of paper, there are large opportunities to more closely approach a hypothetical ideal performance by following established best-practices.

With the rapid advancement of online food delivery and takeaway markets, the use of disposable chopsticks has exponentially increased in China, resulting in the reduction of forest resources and the generation of large amounts of chopstick waste. This review summarizes a variety of methods to produce eco-friendly chopsticks with the aim of enabling a second life cycle for chopstick waste. The related practical recycling systems and policies based on government experience in developed regions are proposed. Furthermore, perspectives with regard to the future development of waste chopsticks recycling systems are also discussed.