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Municipal wastes have become a severe problem in developed and developing countries during the last century, paper being the main constituent. Not all of the waste paper can be recycled, and therefore alternative procedures for the use of the remaining material should be pursued. The aim of the present work was the application of cellulases for waste paper treatment and the subsequent glucose production and optimization of the conditions for such treatment. Glucose thereafter can be utilized for production of ethanol or other chemicals by specific microbial cultures. The work focused in the stabilization of cellulases by cross-linking or by the addition of specific crown ether based compounds to improve glucose production. The results indicated that enzymatic treatment of waste paper is of particular interest, since it may be an alternative way to carry out municipal wastes treatment and concomitant glucose production. By the application of the proposed procedure, the total amounts of municipal wastes can be greatly reduced and production of bioethanol can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]