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In the last five-to-seven years, paperboard producers have revamped their coating recipes to achieve maximum brightness. Mills now use more calcium carbonate (CaCO3) pigments, the main ingredient to obtaining higher brightness, said Quintin Parker, senior technical service advisor at BASF.

Advances in latex, a binder, also has helped increase brightness. Latex, of which there are several kinds, holds the white pigment to the paper, said John Kelly, Dow Chemical Co. technical service and development engineer.