European Journal of Scientific Research

ISSN 1450-216X Vol.25 No.1 (2009), pp.96-103

© EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2009
http://www.eurojournals.com/ejsr.htm

An Efficient Paper Grade Identification Method for Automatic

Recyclable Waste Paper Sorting

Mohammad Osiur Rahman

Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
E-mail: osiur_rahman@yahoo.com

M A Hannan
Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
E-mail: eehannan@vlsi.eng.ukm.my

Edgar Scavino
Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
E-mail: scavino@vlsi.eng.ukm.my

Aini Hussain
Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
E-mail: aini@vlsi.eng.ukm.my

Hassan Basri
Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
E-mail: drhb@vlsi.eng.ukm.my

Abstract
This paper presents a new efficient method of waste paper sorting system using
simple image processing technique. The primary challenge in the recycling of paper is to
obtain raw material with the highest purity. Highly sorted paper stream will facilitate high
quality end product, and save processing chemicals and energy. Automated paper sorting
systems offer significant advantages over human inspection from fatigue, throughput, speed
and accuracy point of view. From 1932 to 2008, different mechanical and optical paper
sorting methods have been developed to fill up the demand of paper sorting. Still many
countries including Malaysia, waste papers are sorted into different grades using manual
sorting system. Due to inadequate throughput and some major drawbacks of mechanical
paper sorting systems, the popularity of optical paper sorting systems is increased. This
paper attempts to develop a learning based vision sensing system that will be able to
separate the different grades of paper using statistical reasoning. The remarkable
achievement obtained from the proposed method is the result of identification and
versatility for all grades of paper just using only one sensor, which is the best among the
prevailing techniques of automated paper sorting systems.

Keywords: Waste Paper Sorting, Recycling, Grades of Paper, and Lignin Sensor.
An Efficient Paper Grade Identification Method for Automatic Recyclable Waste Paper Sorting 97

1. Introduction
Although the total production capacity of all the Malaysian paper mills reaches 1 300 000 T/year, the
amount consumption is still more than the production capacity (ASIA PRO ECO PROGRAM, 2006).
The Malaysian pulp and paper industry is heavily dependant on imported fiber, particularly virgin pulp,
and is also facing the need to find a new source of fiber to strengthen and retain the quality of
secondary fibers as the use of recycled paper is growing in Malaysia. 90% of the supply is made of
recycled fiber (ASIA PRO ECO PROGRAM, 2006). Moreover, Malaysia will be benefited from
reduce landfills, save money, eliminates open burning, recycling minimize floods, improve
organization’s image, divert material from disposal, conserve natural resources, save energy, and
reduce greenhouse gas emissions by means of effective waste paper recycling (Malaysian Newsprint
Industries, 2007, WasteCap, 2008). It is estimated that to make one ton of paper using recycled fiber
saves 17 trees, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space, 360 gallons of water, 100 gallons of gasoline, 60
pounds of air pollutants, 10401 kilowatts of electricity (Malaysian Newsprint Industries, 2007 &
WasteCap, 2008). Recycling paper uses 60% less energy than manufacturing paper from virgin timber
(WasteCap, 2008).
Recycling office waste paper saves valuable landfill space – 3 cubic yards for every ton of
paper recycled – and extends the lives of our landfills. Old newspapers are commonly used to make
tissue and cardboard, while magazines are often recycled into newspaper. The material that makes up
the largest percentage of the waste stream is paper. In Malaysia, every month over 57000 tones of
papers is thrown into the landfills, which occupies 456,000 cubic meters of landfill space (Malaysian
Newsprint Industries, 2007).

Current Manual Sorting Techniques Are Not Effective In Reducing Landfill Waste
Moreover, Makes recycling more cost effective and efficient promotes increased recycling rates as a
consequences reduce the need for virgin fibers and reduce paper waste sent to landfills. Utilization of
sorted papers in recycling processes will decrease the amount of sludge and rejects generated in
recycling and also will decrease the amount of water needed to produce recycled paper.
The primary challenge in the recycling of paper is to obtain raw material with the highest
purity. In recycling, waste papers are segregated into various grades as they are subjected to different
recycling processes. Highly sorted paper stream will facilitate high quality end product, and save
processing chemicals and energy. A grade refers to the quality of a paper or pulp. The basis of Grade is
weight, color, usage, raw material, surface treatment, finish or a combination of these factors (Goyal H.
2007). In most MRF (Materials Recovery Facility) plants, the recovered waste papers are sorted as i)
Computer Print-Out (CPO), ii) White Ledger (Office Paper), iii) Colored Ledger (Office Paper), iv)
Cardboard (OCC -Old Corrugated Cardboard), v) Newspaper (ONP - Old News Paper), vi) Magazines
(OMG -Old Magazines), vii) Coated Sheet (Glossy), and viii) Mixed Office Paper. The Waste paper
sorting systems are classified into Manual and Automated Systems [Remade Scotland, 2005].
Automated paper sorting systems offer significant advantages over manual paper sorting systems from
fatigue, throughput, speed, and accuracy point of view (Shirvaikar M, 2006).

2. Previous Works
In Manual Paper Sorting System, Sorting and separation of post-consumer recovered paper currently
requires extensive manual processing. This is used to remove contaminations, such as glass, plastic
bottles, aluminium cans, dirt and other non-fibre materials. After then separate waste paper into
different grades, as specified by paper mills and waste paper merchants. The manual paper sorting
faces some major problems such as
• Labors-intensive industry which incurs relatively high processing cost,
• Inconsistent quality of end products,
• Skills and commitment Essential for Efficient Sorting,
98 Mohammad Osiur Rahman, M A Hannan, Edgar Scavino, Aini Hussain and Hassan Basri

• Need to maintain a relatively stable and skilled work team.

The high processing cost is not only includes wages, pensions, and insurance payable for crew
members working on the production line, but also the expenses on health and safety facilities. Laborers
working at the manual sorting facilities are exposed to microorganisms, organic dust, and fungi, which
cause severe infections (Helle W. & Niels O. Breum 1997). Hence there is an important need to
automate the sorting process for efficient recycling.
Automated Paper Sorting Systems are classified into Mechanical and Optical. Mechanical
paper sorting is based on the difference of physical features between fiber materials and other
contaminations (non-fiber e.g. plastic and glass bottles, metals, cardboard). Gravity, size, shape,
magnetization, and conductivity are considered as physical features. Recovered paper from a
commingled waste stream is generally composed of a range of object sizes, shapes, thickness and
stiffness. Staples, paper clips, rubber hands, metal fasteners, and various types of bindings create
serious difficulties in separating different grades of paper. Finally it seems that the mechanical paper
sorting is inadequate for achieving commercially viable throughputs and accuracy.
The greatest advantages of an optical paper sorting systems include: (i) Consistent and reliable
efficiency of production with a relatively high hit rate and purity, and (ii) Low operational cost due to
reduced number of manual workers on the production line. Optical Paper Sorting is based on different
features of fiber materials (e.g., lignin), color, gloss, thickness, stiffness and even size etc.

Faibish
S. et. al (1997) proposed an automated paper recycling system where ultrasonic sound is used to
separate different grades of papers. Their proposed system is suffering with some problems of image
processing such as Non-uniform illumination, Segmentation of dark objects with low reflectance
(cloths), Detection of the bounds of the sub-frames. The Adaptive threshold mechanism is not working
smoothly for automatic tuning of the image processing parameters. However, due to contact
manipulation and sensing, the system is too slow (80 msec/sub-frame) for industrial applications.
Ramasubramanian et al (2005) developed lignin sensor, which is working well for separating
newsprint samples from others. But the lignin sensors are influenced by color and sensor distance from
the sample. Red color of an office white paper will produce a normalized voltage that matches that of
newsprint (False High), as well as blue or green colors of the newsprint surface produce signals that
match with a ledger paper (False Low). As a result, the lignin sensor alone cannot detect the presence
of newsprint.
Hottenstein et al. (2000) proposed a sensor-based sorting approach in which a brightness sensor
(reflected light intensity at 457 nm) is used to sort papers primarily into three categories, namely, white
papers containing optical brighteners, white papers without optical brighteners, and the rest. In order to
further distinguish between different colored papers, they describe a multigrade sensor in which they
use the properties of gloss and color for identification. The concept of sorting paper based on their
chemical composition, which is often more important than color, is not addressed in their work.
Venditti R.A et al. (2007) developed a stiffness sensor that is used to sort recovered paper into
paperboard and others. However, it cannot distinguish between a stack of newsprint versus a single
paperboard.
Sandberg N. H. (1932) proposed sorting device to separate paper objects from contaminants.
The attempts of Bialski A. et al (1980) and Grubbs M. et al. (2001) have not been successful mainly
due to the absence of reliable sensing systems to distinguish between grades.
Khalfan Z. et. al. (2006) introduced optical paper sorting method on 2002. Using diffuse
reflectance to identify a sheet of paper as either white or non-white. Their proposed paper sorting
system segregated papers into white and ground wood paper based on the amount of lignin content.
Eixelberger R. et al. (2003) proposed optical paper sorting method to separate waste paper into
two classes based on the radiation reflected from the surface of the papers.
An Efficient Paper Grade Identification Method for Automatic Recyclable Waste Paper Sorting 99

Bruner R. S. et al (2003) proposed one optical paper sorting method to separate waste papers
into bright white paper and others based on amount the fluorescence present on the surface of paper
objects.
Doak A. G. et. al (2007) proposed optical paper sorting methods to separate different grades of
paper based upon at least one characteristics of color, glossiness and the presence of printed matter.
Gschweitl et al. (1998) has been proposed to utilize visible light, ultraviolet light, x-rays and/or
infrared light to illuminate the paper for sorting. They utilized mechanical pickers thus indicating that
the system would operate at relatively low speeds.
Due to inadequate throughput and some major drawbacks of mechanical paper sorting systems,
the popularity of optical paper sorting systems is increased. But the implementation of all the
prevailing optical paper sorting systems is very complex and expensive. All the systems segregate only
two types of papers at a time. Moreover, no image processing or intelligent techniques are used to
extract the features or characteristics from the paper objects. This paper attempts to develop a learning
based vision sensing system that will be able to separate the different grades of paper using statistical
reasoning.

3. Methodology of the Proposed System

The proposed system consists of two phases- enrollment and identification. In the enrollment phase
reference database is created for different grades of paper objects. In the identification phase, the grade
of the candidate paper object will be identified. In the proposed system, 24-bit images are taken from
inspection zone on the conveyor belt by using vision camera. After detecting the position of the paper
object, the range of background color of this paper object is determined. The ranges of colors for
different paper grades will be used to create reference database. The category or grade of the candidate
paper object will be identified using the reference database.

Paper Grading - The Enrollment Phase

1. Firstly, take the image information into a temporary buffer
2. Perform Edge Detection (Sobel or Prewitt Operator) Algorithm (Gonzalez et al. 2004)
3. Determine the four co-ordinate points of the paper object as shown in Figure 1(a). The points
are detected by using like plan-sweep Algorithm (Beretta et. al. 1984).
4. Determine the color values of neighbors of p1, p2, p3 and p4 points. The neighbors are 25×25,
50×50, and 100×100 pixels area, considering p1, p2, p3 and p4 points are as one of the corner
points of the respective square or triangles as like Figure 1(b).
5. Must avoid pure black pixels because most of the cases, it is the color of text.
6. Match the value of p1, p2, p3, and p4 point’s respective area. Then calculate the range of color
values for that paper object.
7. Continue the process for similar color paper objects as much as possible.
8. Finally calculate the range of color values for one specific paper object.
100 Mohammad Osiur Rahman, M A Hannan, Edgar Scavino, Aini Hussain and Hassan Basri
Figure 1: (a) Find the position of paper objects and Four Co-ordinate Points and (b) Use triangular and
rectangular area to determine the range background color of the paper object.

Inspection
P1 Zone P1
P2
P2
Square
Paper Object

Triangle

Scanning
Line

P4 P3 P4 P3

(b)
(a)

Paper Grade - the Identification Phase

1. Repeat step 1 to 6 of the enrolment phase.
2. Compare the range of color values with the ranges of color values of the reference database.
3. Declare the grade of candidate paper object based on the highest similarity score come from the
comparison of candidate and reference database.

4. Experimental Results
Since no databank was available for paper objects identification system following our method of image
extraction, we had to create a database of paper objects. One of the tasks to be studied for the
enrollment process is the color value of background that forms the ranges of different paper grades. It
is obvious that the bigger the number of samples used, the more accurate range of color for respective
grade of papers will be created. 20 samples are considered sufficient to create accurate range of color
for respective grade of papers. We have collected 3 photographs with resolution 100 dpi (dot per inch),
200 dpi, and 300 dpi for each of 160 paper objects.
In this section a relative comparison is made based on the outcomes of our proposed method for
OCC (Old Corrugated Cardboard), ONP (Old News Paper) and WP (White Paper) with different
resolutions shown in table 1. Combining different resolutions, the ranges of RGB color components for
OCC, ONP, and WP grade papers are shown in table 2. OCC, ONP and WP types of papers must be
identified considering only one component out of Red, Green and Blue shown in Figure 2. When we
consider other grades of papers then it is essential to combine three components to make robust
decision in paper grade selection.
An Efficient Paper Grade Identification Method for Automatic Recyclable Waste Paper Sorting 101
Table 1: The Ranges of RGB Color Components of the Paper Objects For 100dpi, 200dpi and 300dpi
Resolutions

Red Green Blue

Min. Max. Min. Max. Min. Max.
OCC100 161 170 144 155 121 135
ONP100 203 225 199 221 197 221
WP100 237 240 238 239 250 252
OCC200 172 186 151 171 124 149
ONP200 204 225 201 221 201 217
WP200 238 241 236 241 249 252
OCC300 179 185 161 168 136 149
ONP300 210 218 207 213 204 212
WP300 236 245 237 246 246 255

Table 2: The Minimum and Maximum Ranges of RGB Color Components For Different Grades of Paper
Objects

Red Green Blue

Min. Max. Min. Max. Min. Max.
OCC 161 186 144 171 121 149
ONP 203 225 199 221 197 221
WP 236 245 236 246 246 255

Figure 2: Ranges of the color components for Different Grades of Paper Objects

255 OCC-Red
245
235 ONP-Red
225
RGB Color Values

215 WP-Red
205
195
185 OCC-Green
175
165 ONP-Green
155
145 WP-Green
135
125 OCC-Blue
115
105 ONP-Blue

RED GREEN BLUE WP-Blue

5. Summary and Concluding Remarks

The main emphasis of this work is the development of a new method for automated paper sorting
system.
From the review, five sensors such as ultrasonic, lignin, gloss, stiffness and color sensors are
used for paper sorting systems. The ultrasonic sensor is contact basis, which make inadequate for
industry. The lignin sensor is only used to separate the newsprint papers from others. But the
performance of Lignin sensors seriously affected by colors. The stiffness sensor is used to separate the
Card board from others paper grades. The gloss sensor is working for the separation of glossy paper
from others. Color sensor is basically used to measure the radiation of the paper surface. The color
sensor is used to identify white papers. Thus the most important point in the proposed method is that
the method is very easy to implement for all the grades of papers. Moreover, the computational burden
for paper identification is very simple.
102 Mohammad Osiur Rahman, M A Hannan, Edgar Scavino, Aini Hussain and Hassan Basri

The remarkable achievement obtained from the proposed method is the result of identification and
versatility for all grades of paper just using only one sensor, which is the best among the prevailing
techniques of automated paper sorting systems.

Acknowledgment
The project is sponsored by Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Malaysia, under escience
project 01-01-02-SF0011

References
[1] ASIA PRO ECO PROGRAM, 2006. Feeding China’s Expanding Demand for Wood Pulp: A
Diagnostic Assessment of Plantation Development, Fiber Supply, and Impacts on Natural
Forests in China and in the South East Asia Region, Malaysia Report, ISBN 979-24-4676-1,
2006.
[2] Bialski A., et al., 1980. Paper sorting apparatus, US Patent No. 4, 236, 676, Dec.2.
[3] Bruner R.S., et al. 2003. System and Method for Sensing White Paper, US Patent No.
6,570,653, May 27.
[4] Beretta G. B. 1984. An Implementation of a Plan-sweep Algorithm on a Personal Computer,
http://www.inventoland.net/pdf/Reports/7538.pdf
[5] Doak A. G., et. al, 2007. Multi-Grade Object sorting system and method, US Patent
No.7173709, Feb 6.
[6] Eixelberger R., et. al.2003. Method and Apparatus for Sorting Waste Paper of Different Grades
and Conditions, US Patent No. 6,506,991, Jan 14.
[7] Faibish S., Bacakoglu H. and Goldenberg A. A. 1997. An Eye-Hand System for Automated
Paper Recycling, Proceedings of the 1997 IEEE,Intemational Conference on Robotics and
Automatlon, Albuquerque, New Mexico, APRIL, pp 9-14.
[8] Goyal H., 2007. Paper Grades, http://www.paperonweb.com/ppmanf.htm
[9] Grubbs M., et al. 2001. Paper Sorting System, US Patent No.6, 250, 472, Jun. 26.
[10] Gschweitl and Heinz K. 1998. Method for sorting waste paper, European Patent, EP0873797,
Oct 28.
[11] Gonzalez R. C. and Woods R. E. 2004. Digital Image Processing, Pearson Education, Indian
Branch, Delhi 110092, India, ISBN 81-7808-629-8, pp. 77, 125, 283-294, 572, 577, 578-580,
595-612, Seventh Indian Reprint.
[12] Helle Würtz, Niels O. Breum 1997. Exposure To Microorganisms During Manual Sorting Of
Recyclable Paper Of Different Quality, Ann Agric Environ Med 1997, 4, 129–135.
[13] Hottenstein F. A., Kenny G. R., Friberg T., and Jackson M. 2000. High-Speed automated
optical sorting of recovered paper, Proc. TAPPI Recycling Symp., vol. 1, Atlanta, GA, pp. 149–
158.
[14] Khalfan Z., et. al. 2006. Optical Paper Sorting Method Device and Apparatus, US Patent No.
7,081,594, Jul. 25.
[15] Malaysian Newsprint Industries, 2007. Paper Recycling, Web Address:
http://www.newsprint.com.my/
[16] Ramasubramanian MK, Venditti RA, Ammineni CM, and Mallapragada, M. 2005. Optical
Sensor for Noncontact Measurement of Lignin Content in High-Speed Moving Paper Surfaces,
IEEE Sensors Journal, vol. 5, No.5:pp1132-1139.
[17] Remade Scotland, 2005. Initial Business Case for Utilisation of Automated Optical Paper
Sorting Technology, Caledonian Environment Centre, Glasgow Caledonian University,
December 2005, web address:
InitialBusinessCaseforUtilisationofAutomatedOpticalPaperSortingTechnology_16122222124.p
df
An Efficient Paper Grade Identification Method for Automatic Recyclable Waste Paper Sorting 103

[18] Sandberg,N.H.1932. Sorting Device For Waste Paper, US Patent No. 1,847,265,Mar.
[19] Shirvaikar M, 2006, Trends in automated visual inspection, J Real-Time Image Proc, DOI
10.1007/s11554-006-0009-6, pp. 41-43, 2006
[20] Venditti RA,Ramasubramanian MK, Katuri K.C.2007. A Noncontact Sensor for the
Identification of Paper and Board Samples on a High Speed Sorting Conveyor, Appita Journal:
Journal of the Technical Association of the Australian and New Zealand Pulp and Paper
Industry; Volume 60, Issue 5; Sept, pp. 366-371.
[21] WasteCap, 2008. WasteCap of Massachusetts, 68 Hopkinton Road, Westboro, MA 01581,
March 2008, Web Address: http://www.wastecap.org/wastecap/commodities/paper/paper.htm