Use of Wastepaper for Developing Environment-friendly Shock-absorbing Materials

Environment-friendly shock-absorbing materials were made of wastepaper such as old corrugated containers (OCC) and old newspapers (ONP) with a vacuum forming method. The plate-like cushioning materials made of OCC and ONP respectively by vacuum forming showed superior shock-absorbing properties with lower elastic moduli compared to expanded polystyrene (EPS) and pulp mold. Even though the plate-like materials had many free voids in their fiber structure, their apparent densities (${\approx}0.1g/cm^{3}$) were a little higher than that of EPS (${\approx}0.03g/cm^{3}$) and much lower than that of pulp mold (${\approx}0.3g/cm^{3}$). However, the elastic moduli of the cushioning materials made of wastepaper were much lower than that of EPS or pulp mold. This finding implies that the cushioning materials made of OCC fibers containing more lignin than ONP show better shock-absorbing properties than ONP Moreover, the cushioning materials made of OCC and ONP respectively showed greater porosity than pulp mold. The addition of cationic starch to the cushioning materials contributed to an increase in the elastic modulus to the same level as that of EPS. Furthermore, the deterioration in fiber quality by repeated use of wastepaper played a great role in improving shock-absorbing ability.