Overview
ISO 15360-1:2000 - Recycled pulps - Estimation of Stickies and Plastics - Part 1: Visual method specifies a laboratory visual procedure to estimate stickies and plastic fragments in a wide variety of pulps, including recycled and de-inked grades. The standard describes how to isolate retained particles by screening, transfer them to filter paper, and visually identify and count stickies and plastics at ambient and, optionally, elevated temperature/pressure (to reveal hot‑melt adhesives). It clarifies the method’s scope and limitations: it captures only particles retained on a chosen screen slit size and is not intended for visible dirt/shives (ISO 5350 series) or visible contraries (ISO 15319).
Key topics and technical requirements
- Sample preparation
- Determine dry matter (ISO 638), soak/disintegrate pulp per ISO 5263 and report disintegration conditions.
- Laboratory screening
- Use laboratory screening equipment fitted with a screen of slit aperture 100 µm or 150 µm (average tolerance ±5 µm).
- Process a representative mass (commonly ~100 g oven-dried pulp, adjustable depending on contamination level) until filtrate is clear.
- Recovery and transfer
- Wash retained material from the screen, filter the suspension onto qualitative filter paper, dry at 105 °C for 1 h.
- Visual identification and measurement
- Identify and count Stickies (adhesive or tacky materials) and Plastics (non‑adhesive polymers) separately.
- Estimate particle area using the comparison chart (annex B) and calculate counts and areas per kg of oven‑dried pulp.
- Hot‑melt activation (optional)
- Heated press: 690 kPa ±20 kPa at 150 °C ±10 °C for ~10 min to reveal temperature‑activated stickies; report these results separately.
- Reporting
- Include detailed specimen identification, screening equipment and screen details, mass tested, disintegration conditions, counts and areas (mm²/kg), and any departures from the standard.
Applications and users
- Who uses it
- Pulp and paper mill quality control laboratories, recycled fiber processors, mill analytical labs, and contract testing services.
- Suppliers of screening equipment and analytical services use it as a reference for method validation.
- Why it’s useful
- Helps quantify contamination sources that affect papermaking (sheet defects, coating problems, machine downtime).
- Supports incoming raw material acceptance, process troubleshooting, and specification compliance for recycled pulp streams.
Related standards
Keywords: ISO 15360-1:2000, recycled pulps, stickies, plastics, visual method, pulp testing, laboratory screening, de-inked pulp, hot-melt adhesives.
