International Journal of Technology (2015) 5: 847-855 ISSN 2086-9614 © IJTech 2015 REJECT WASTE PELLETS OF PAPER MILLS AS FUEL AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO GREENHOUSE GAS (GHG) Yusup Setiawan 1* , Aep Surachman 1 1 Center for Pulp and Paper (CPP), Jl. Raya Dayeuhkolot No. 132, Bandung 40258, Indonesia (Received: June 2015 / Revised: September 2015 / Accepted: September 2015) ABSTRACT The paper-recycling process of paper mills generates reject waste in the region of 525% of its raw material, depending on the recovered fiber quality and process used in the mill. We carried out an assessment of the paper industry’s reject waste pellets (RWP) as a boiler fuel. Reject waste was identified by means of sorting. The pelletizing of paper mills’ reject waste is a solidification process, as it is easier to store, handle, and transport solid waste. We analyzed the approximate calorific value and the sulphur content of reject waste pellets. The results showed that the components of reject waste are largely comprised of 51% fibers and 49% plastic. The plastic components of are dominated by the high density poly ethylene (HDPE) plastic type. RWP contains a lot of organic matter and has a high calorific value and low sulphur content, which gives it the potential of being used as fuel. Utilization of 10% RWP mixed with 90% coal as boiler fuel could reduce CO 2 gas as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by about 9%. Keywords: Coal; CO 2 ; Greenhouse gas; Pellet; Reject waste 1. INTRODUCTION Currently in Indonesia there are 75 paper industries producing various types of paper such as newsprint, fluting, craft liner, board, and wrapping and tissue papers. Generally, their paper mills utilize waste paper as raw material (IPPA, 2011). In the production process, besides producing paper, the industry also produces reject waste amounting to 525% of raw material used (Gavrilescu, 2008; Thacker, 2000). IPPA reported that the consumption of waste paper for paper production is in the amount of 6,598,464 tons per year (IPPA, 2011). Most Indonesian paper industries generate reject waste in the amount of 510% of waste paper used, or 329,923 to 659,846 tons of air dried reject waste per year. In order to manage this waste, it is generally disposed of outside the factory through third party services, or the amount of waste is reduced by burning it in an incinerator. The waste is largely comprised of bundles of fibers, foils, and plastic pieces, their number depending on the quality of the waste paper used as raw material. Reject waste generally has a high calorific value, with low ash and sulphur contents, which gives it the potential to be used as fuel (Gavrilescu, 2008; Oudi et al., 2012; Thacker, 2000). The use of paper mills’ reject waste pellets as fuel to produce energy has been applied in Japan and many European countries (Takenaka, 2009). The industry that produces pellets as fuel developed rapidly, because it is seen as the fuel of the future (Nobuyuki & Hiroyuki, 2011). Takenaka reported that the use of refuse paper and plastic fuel (RPF) as fuel could reduce the CO 2 emissions rate by 35% (Takenaka, 2009). This demonstrates that the use of reject waste pellets (RWP) as fuel, instead of coal, could contribute to the reduction of CO 2 emissions * Corresponding author’s email: yusupsetiawan60@yahoo.com, Telp. +62-22-5202980, Fax. +62-22-5202871 Permalink/DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14716/ijtech.v6i5.1790