Biotechnology Division, Central Pulp and Paper Research Institute, Saharanpur, U.P. India.
Department of Microbiology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, H.R. India
Deinking is an important step in the recycling process for waste paper and old newsprint. Deinking process is the heart of recycling process of old newsprint which decides the quality of the newsprint produced. In traditional deinking process large amount of chemicals are required which makes this method expensive, pollution intensive and also the quality of the news print produced is not upto the mark. In the present study an effort has been made to adopt biotechnological approach in deinking of old newsprint with an objective to make this process eco-friendly, cost competitive and to produce quality news print. Fungal cellulase enzyme produced from isolated fungus Trichoderma longibrachiatum via SSF was used as deinking aid. Results showed that highest enzyme activity could be achieved at a pH of 5.5 and at a temperature of 50-600C. Utilization of the cellulase enzyme thus produced from the isolated fungus Trichoderma longibrachiatum used as deinking aid helped in replacing the deinking chemicals used during deinking of Old News Print. This further improved the optical and strength properties of deinked pulp with significant improvement in its final pulp yield, along with reduction in pollution load in the wastewater generated from the recycling process of deinking.
Keywords:Cellulase; COD; ONP; Optical and Physical properties; Trichoderma longibrachiatum.