Wastewater treatment in the pulp-and-paper industry: A review of treatment processes and the associated greenhouse gas emission

• Wastewater treatment techniques used in pulp-and-paper industry are reviewed.
• Numerical models are developed to estimate GHG emissions for each technique.
• Contaminant removal efficiencies and GHG emissions depend on operating parameters.
• Hybrid process is found to be the most appropriate and stable treatment technique.

Pulp-and-paper mills produce various types of contaminants and a significant amount of wastewater depending on the type of processes used in the plant. Since the generated wastewaters can be potentially polluting and very dangerous, they should be treated in wastewater treatment plants before being released to the environment. This paper reviews different wastewater treatment processes used in the pulp-and-paper industry and compares them with respect to their contaminant removal efficiencies and the extent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. It also evaluates the impact of operating parameters on the performance of different treatment processes. Two mathematical models were used to estimate GHG emission in common biological treatment processes used in the pulp-and-paper industry. Nutrient removal processes and sludge treatment are discussed and their associated GHG emissions are calculated. Although both aerobic and anaerobic biological processes are appropriate for wastewater treatment, their combination known as hybrid processes showed a better contaminant removal capacity at higher efficiencies under optimized operating conditions with reduced GHG emission and energy costs.