Tech grant for Paper Recycling

Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) announced today that the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Technologies Office has awarded Virginia Tech $526,336 to advance a new method of paper recycling that will allow water-based inks to be separated from spent paper fibers.

“Today’s award from the Department of Energy will allow Virginia Tech to further develop a way in which paper printed with water-based inks can be de-inked during the recycling process,” said Griffith. “This new technology will allow for more paper to be recycled, benefitting the environment by further minimizing waste.”

There is currently technology to de-ink paper from oil-based inks, but that technology fails to remove pigment for water-based inks.