The systems engineering process has been applied to determine the feasibility of building a de-inking plant in Northern Virginia. This plant will recycle old newspapers and magazines into newsprint to be used by a local newspaper company in the production of their daily newspaper.

A needs analysis establishes the local newspaper company's desire to obtain a reliable source of one-hundred percent recycled newsprint at a competitive cost. The analysis proposes building a de-inking plant to produce the required quantity and quality of recycled newsprint required to fulfill the local newspaper company's production needs. The analysis applies the engineering process to develop the system's high-level operational and maintenance requirements. This process establishes a system configuration used to evaluate the system's economic feasibility.

The results of this analysis indicate that the de-inking plant system is feasible within the available technology and economic resources. The de-inking plant can provide a reliable source of 100% recycled paper at a cost that is below the present cost for similar recycled newsprint.