Elemental chlorine free (ECF) is a technique that uses chlorine dioxide for the bleaching of wood pulp.
It does not use elemental chlorine gas during the bleaching process and prevents the formation of dioxins and dioxin-like compounds, carcinogens.
The traditional ECF sequence is DEopDEpD[1]: 14 using the common letter symbols for bleaching stages,[2] though many improved sequences are available.
[1]: 15 Totally chlorine free (TCF) is paper that does not use any chlorine compounds for wood pulp bleaching.
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