Overview
ISO/TS 21331:2020 - Graphic technology and deinked pulp provides practical guidance for assessing the deinking performance of printed paper products to support recyclability and the circular economy. The technical specification helps stakeholders in the paper value chain understand how printing, finishing and converting choices affect downstream deinking and the quality of industrial deinked pulp (DIP). It covers common deinking processes, performance assessment principles, relevant pulp quality characteristics and typical end‑uses of deinked pulps. Note: the document excludes guidance for paper products that are not intended to be deinked.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Scope and purpose - Guidance for product design and assessment so deinkability contributes to recyclability and circularity.
- Deinking processes - Descriptions of common industrial steps: pulping, flotation, washing, dispersing and bleaching, plus complementary methods (Annex A).
- Deinking performance - Principles and general experience for assessing how different printing, finishing and converting technologies perform in real deinking processes.
- Quality characteristics of deinked pulp - Attributes used to judge DIP suitability, including brightness (ISO/D65), colour (CIELAB L*, a*, b*), dirt particle metrics, fibre yield and ash content.
- Possible usages - Mapping of DIP quality profiles to likely paper and board applications based on the pulp’s measured characteristics.
- Reporting and traceability - Guidance on documenting deinking test results and communicating deinkability information across the value chain.
- Definitions and terminology - Clear terms for recycled paper, pulp, deinked pulp (DIP), printing ink, substrate and recycling/deinking concepts.
Practical applications and users
Who benefits:
- Printers, brand owners and print buyers seeking design-for-recycling guidance to improve product end‑of‑life performance.
- Paper and board manufacturers specifying acceptable DIP quality for production.
- Recycling mills and pulp processors optimizing deinking operations and grading DIP for reuse.
- Converters and finishing operations assessing effects of varnishes, coatings and adhesives on deinkability.
- Sustainability managers, procurement teams and policymakers implementing circular economy strategies for paper products.
How it’s used:
- Informing ink, substrate and finishing choices to enhance deinkability.
- Setting test and acceptance criteria for incoming recycled fibre streams.
- Specifying DIP quality for recycled paper grades and closed‑loop graphic paper production.
- Supporting environmental claims and life‑cycle assessment by documenting recyclability performance.
Related standards
ISO/TS 21331 complements other ISO standards on paper testing, colour measurement (CIELAB) and brightness measurement; it is intended as practical guidance rather than a prescriptive test method. Keywords: ISO/TS 21331:2020, deinkability, deinked pulp, paper recycling, graphic technology, circular economy.
Open preview (PDF)Graphic technology and deinked pulp — Guidance for assessing the deinking performance of printed paper products
