Corrugating Medium Made from Solid Waste of Bamboo Paper Sludge

Corrugating medium was made from the solid waste of bamboo paper sludge and old corrugated container (OCC) pulp. The medium also incorporated additions of anion polyacrylamide as a retention agent and cationic starch as a strengthening agent. The estimated molecular mass of anion polyacrylamide, the addition level of anionic polyacrylamide, and the addition level of cationic starch were optimally designed using single-factor analysis. On this premise, the optimum addition level of the solid waste of bamboo paper sludge was found. The best process conditions for the corrugating medium included a base weight of 120 g/m-2, 10 wt.% bamboo paper sludge solid waste, 0.3 wt.% APAM (Estimated molecular mass of 600 × 104 Daltons), and 1.5 wt.% cationic starch. The apparent density, breaking length, and ring crush index were 0.53 g/cm-3, 2.51 km, and 7.48 N/mg-1, respectively, under the best process conditions. This finding could help satisfy the demand for materials used for making the corrugating medium and could support the full utilization of the solid waste of bamboo paper sludge to achieve higher value.