Treatment and Recycling of Wastewater from Pulp and Paper Mill

Paper and pulp industry is water intensive and has a greater impact on aquatic, surrounding environment and public health. Minimum fresh water usage and emphasis on waste-water recycling/management are key factors for the growth of this industry. Concentration of impurities and toxic substances in processed water mainly limits recycling benefits because it adversely affects processes, equipments and paper quality. Organic wastes are mostly processed through biodegradation and bioremediation using anaerobic digestion (methane production) followed by aerobic digestion (inducing sludge processing). Although, biological processing is economical and eco-friendly but treatment of wastes including non-biodegradable recalcitrant compounds mostly limits its broad application. Therefore, many other innovative approaches have been exploited to tackle this problem. Advanced oxidation process (AOP), novel biodegradable polymeric flocculants, electrocoagulation and photocatalysis etc. are used as alternative ways to facilitate detoxification and recycling. In this chapter, we emphasised and provided an in-depth knowledge about the various wastewater treatment strategies linked to paper and pulp industry.