|
Research, Education, and Laboratory Services
 Through its three divisions, WIST offers laboratory services, outreach education, and research to create sustainability solutions for businesses and organizations. Technology and ideas developed by WIST and its partners will spur economic growth in Wisconsin and the region and help all of us preserve and protect a healthy environment for future generations.
|
|
|
WIST in exclusive company
Institute gains approval to perform
recyclability protocol
The Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology has been approved to perform certain tests of the Voluntary Standard for Repulping and Recycling Corrugated Fiberboard. WIST will act as a subcontractor to IPS Testing Services of Appleton, Wis. The IPS Testing Experts/WIST collaboration becomes just the fourth laboratory approved to perform the voluntary standard protocol.
 The protocol is used to certify the repulpability and recyclability of wax alternatives for corrugated products that have been treated to improve performance in the presence of water and water vapor. The approval is the result of a recent audit by the Corrugated Packaging Alliance protocol technical team of IPS Testing Experts' facilities and those of the WIST pilot paper machine lab.
Use of recyclable, wax-coated corrugated material is increasing rapidly, according to a study by the Corrugated Packaging Alliance, which found that 6.5 billion square feet of the material was shipped in 2010, a 30 percent increase over 2009. With approval of the WIST/IPS testing collaboration, companies have another option if they wish to have material certified for repulping and recycling. Other certified facilities are NC State University, Department of Wood & Paper Science, in Raleigh, North Carolina; Western Michigan University Pilot Plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan; and Centre Specialise en Pates et Papiers (CSPP) in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada.
For more information visit the WIST website at www.uwsp.edu/wist. To inquire about WIST testing services contact Don Guay, WIST lab services director, at 715-346-4746.
About IPS Testing Services: Based in Appleton, Wisconsin, Integrated Paper Services (IPS), Inc., serves as an independent testing lab for the paper and pulp, nonwovens, personal care products and healthcare and allied industries. To inquire about IPS services contact Chris Reitmeyer at 920-749-3040 Ext 119.
About the Corrugated Packaging Alliance: The Corrugated Packaging Alliance (www.corrugated.org) is a corrugated industry initiative jointly sponsored by the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), the Association ofIndependent Corrugated Converters (AICC) and the Fibre Box Association (FBA). For more information visit http://www.corrugated.org/WaxAlternatives or contact the Corrugated Packaging Alliance at 800-886-5255.
|
WIST-Supported UWSP faculty and students present research
in San Antonio
 Three undergraduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point recently had the honor of presenting their research at an international conference in San Antonio, Texas.
Anna Courtney, Evan Roberts and Joel Stokdyk, undergraduate majors in soil science and waste management in the College of Natural Resources, participated in the conference "Fundamental for Life: Soil, Crop, & Environmental Sciences," Oct. 16-19. The students assisted on research projects with UWSP faculty members Rob Michitsch, an assistant professor in soil and waste resources, Les Werner, an associate professor in forestry, Kyle Herrman, an assistant professor in water resources, and Aga Razvi, a professor in soil and waste resources, all of whom served as co-authors for the students' presentations. Michitsch and Werner also participated in the conference.
Their research was funded in part by the Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology at UWSP through a WIST Scholar grant. Work focused on effects of compost tea - a liquid made by steeping compost in water - on microbial activity and biomass in soil. The results could lead to new insights in maintaining soil health through natural amendments.
Michitsch said the conference provided a great opportunity for the students not only to gain experience in presenting their work but also to network with accomplished practitioners in their field.
"This was a professional conference they presented at, attended by researchers in academics, industry and government," Michitsch said. "They were rubbing shoulders with top researchers from around the world."
About 4,300 people attended the conference, which served as the annual meetings of the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America, the Soil Science Society of America, and was held in conjunction with the Canadian Society of Soil Science.
More information about WIST and the WIST Scholar Program is online at www.uwsp.edu/wist.
|
|
|
WIST upcoming courses
WIST has several courses scheduled in early 2012 and registration is open on each. For more information or to register for a course email Angie Hauer at Angie.Hauer@uwsp.edu
 Hands-on Papermaking is offered Jan. 18-19. This popular course includes guided sessions operating WIST's pilot paper machine.
Introduction to Life Cycle Assessment is scheduled for Feb. 17. This six-hour course provides an overview of life cycle assessment (LCA),product category rules (PCR) and environmental product declarations (EPD). Participants will gain an understanding of the scope, challenges and possibilities in applying life cycle assessment to decision-making processes.
A new course, Kraft recovery: solving typical process problems, is being offered for the first time by WIST. The three-day course examines this essential and economically critical process of pulp mills, with an emphasis on solving typical process problems.
|
|
|
