Alternative fuel source, a lot of old paper, what to do??

workie job has about 400-500 banker boxes full of "unclassified" documents that need properly disposed of. It would be Very cool if I could use them to heat stuff without smoking out the neighborhood. Has anybody converted stacks of copy paper and file folders to heat things or recycle without doing the Shred/paper mill toxic chemical bath then mix/blend into pulp thing??

I want a more permie style use of this resource that can destroy the sensitive/controlled words on the paper yet not kill the environment. I'm open to any & all suggestions.
90% of said stuff falls outside of Department of Defense or Department Energy jurisdiction but sorting them requires time, so complete burn or decompose is optimal to eliminate regulatory concerns.

Well, I don't know if it would work for you or if it would work with this kind of paper but you could try the paper log maker.  It works well with newspaper and such.

https://www.amazon.com/QWORK-Newspaper-Briquette-Fireplace-Cost-Saving/dp/B0D8FG6CP6

Maybe---MAAAAYYBE--

This would definitely take some time, but an old trick to heat a wood stove with straw was to take straw and twist it into ropes.  The "ropes" then burned slower.  But maybe in this case it might actually speed up and moderate the paper.  What I mean is that if you burn loose paper, it will go up in flames very quickly and give little meaningful heat.  And if you try to burn a whole stack of paper, it won't get sufficient oxygen and take forever and as you mention, smoke out the neighbors.

But if you can take some pages and twist them together into little ropes or branches or whatever you want to call them, they might get a decent amount of oxygen without going all up in flames instantaneously.

Maybe worth a try?



Eric

Would your company be open to shredding the paper then you could take it home and turn into logs as Olga has suggested?

Once you turn them into logs, they could be sold to replace firewood.

Some threads of interest to you or others:

https://permies.com/t/99804/experience-making-fire-logs-trash

https://permies.com/t/14332/news-paper-logs-making-burning

I like the make it soggy and then squish it into usable blocks of biomass. I was envisioning myself pouring the slurry between two pieces of plywood then running it over with the tractor while my wife watches shakes her head and walks back into the house.

I regularly burn paper to get rapid heat up in the morning.  I believe it reduces creosote as well.   If your chimney has not been cleaned in a while, a hot paper fire might cause some unwanted excitement.

Look at mycoremediation too—that can decompose a lot of toxic chemicals found in paper, industrial waste, etc.

I love words that I do not know the meaning of.

Google said, Mycoremediation is a natural environmental cleanup method that uses fungi to break down pollutants ...

Is there a problem with just dropping lots of paper into a RMH? I don't have that much so just use a few sheets crumpled up to start fires, but if I had that much I'd make a tight roll about 1" thick (50-100 sheets?), tie it up with jute, and drop it in with a bunch of other sticks...

J,

I didn't fully read your first post and realize you were open to non-combustion options.

By all means, mycoremediation is an excellent way to permanently destroy the paper & information contained.  At the same time, that paper can be turned into excellent garden bedding and eventually topsoil.

I have had a lot of luck with Wine Caps, but maybe and oyster mushroom would be appropriate here.  If you can get the fungi growing, it will consume the paper.  If left on the ground during this process, worms and other soil biota will work their way into the decomposed paper, munch on it, leave their droppings, pull back some and mix it with the subsoil layers, thus merging the paper with and into the lower soil levels yielding up highly fertile bedding.

My thoughts are that this is best done on the ground, in contact with soil.  A Wine Cap likes to have soil interaction so maybe go with a Wine Cap if you want to try this on the ground.  If above ground/in a container/something else, maybe the Oyster mushroom is the thing.


Might be worth a shot?


Eric

Coydon Wallham wrote:Is there a problem with just dropping lots of paper into a RMH? I don't have that much so just use a few sheets crumpled up to start fires, but if I had that much I'd make a tight roll about 1" thick (50-100 sheets?), tie it up with jute, and drop it in with a bunch of other sticks...

I would love to know this too. we have access to ridiculous amounts of old office paper (white printer paper from our old accounting documents we have been required to keep for 7 years), and if i decide to build a stove in the back it would be a great free fuel source.

I too like the paper role tied with jute.  Functionally, this seems like my twisted paper rope idea--Maybe easier.


What would happen when the jute burns through and the paper roll unrolls?  Would the sudden availability of more oxygen to more of the paper thanks to a sudden increase in surface area burn too quickly?  Would it matter at all?


Now I want to hear someone try it so I can find out!!!




Eric

Eric Hanson wrote:What would happen when the jute burns through and the paper roll unrolls?  Would the sudden availability of more oxygen to more of the paper thanks to a sudden increase in surface area burn too quickly?  Would it matter at all?

If running a fully loaded J-tube, the twine would just be to assist in loading. With a full feed tube, the paper wouldn't have anywhere to really expand to and would shirley be spent before the surrounding sticks lost their integrity...

Eric Hanson wrote:I too like the paper role tied with jute.  What would happen when the jute burns through and the paper roll unrolls?  Would the sudden availability of more oxygen to more of the paper thanks to a sudden increase in surface area burn too quickly?  Would it matter at all?

I think if it did turn out to be a problem. they could be tied with wire, which could then be sifted from the ashes and used to tie another bundle.

I can absolutely see myself with a truck load of paper making up wire-tied logs and jute-tied logs in all different sizes figuring out the ideal amount of paper to use, the ideal tightness of the bundle, the best way to tie them and the best ratio of paper-rolls to real wood logs.

Then sieving the ash to get the wire out the next day for more experiments.~

I'm kinda weird though...