PaRC | Paper from Trees: Making Paper NUS Paper Recycling Campaign (PaRC)
August 2000
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Making Paper [ Papermaking at Home ]

How is Paper Made?
Raw materials used to make paper are broken down into individual fibres in a process called pulping.
There are basically 2 methods used in pulping:

  1. Mechanical -- using machines to separate the fibres by pressing and grinding
  2. Chemical -- a chemical/water solution dissolves the lignin (natural wood chemical holding the fibres together)
      Did you know?
    • Manufacturers do use recycled fibre in virgin paper production!
    • Paper made from chemical pulp is stronger and less prone to discoloration -- printing and writing papers are produced by this method.
    • Unfortunately, the chemicals used in chemical pulping are not environmentally-friendly, and give rise to air and water pollution

 
Paper From Trees
New paper is produced from a combination of raw-materials including:
  • round wood (whole trees, generally smaller than 20cm diameter);
  • residue (woodchips and scraps from forest and saw-mill operations); and
  • recovered paper (recycled fibre)

Next: How paper is recycled