Increasingly stringent environmental standards and market demands are forcing pulp and paper mills to minimize both their water usage and their effluent discharge. Higher rates of process water reuse in pulp and paper mills leads to increased amounts of dissolved and colloidal substances in process water, which is a major fac¬tor limiting further closure of the water circuits. This study explores the use of different types of talc as control agents for dissolved and colloidal material contained in white water from paper mills using recovered and coated paper as raw materials. It also identifies the kinds of talc that can be used to control detrimental properties of the white water.