Monday, August 23, 2010

Paper Technology,Converting and Recycling in India



 Video - Waste Paper Collection-United State of America





Video - Waste Paper Collection-Europe Union-German

RECYCLED FIBER : TECHNOLOGICAL and ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

INTRODUCTION
Increased use of recycled fiber or in common terms waste / recovered paper is the current trend in the paper industry globally as it is one of the survival routes for the paper industry against dwindling forest resources and environment related issues . Recycling has economic benefits too as it facilitates in meeting the paper / paper product demand without an equivalent increase in the demand of wood. In tune with the global trends , the recovered paper is being used by all segments of the Indian paper industry which account for around 37% of the total paper production . However this production figure is mostly met through more than 70% of imported substitute as the recovery rate of waste paper in India is substantially low with no appreciable rise in recovery rate witnessed in the last two decades.

The Indian Paper Industry started using recycled fiber as a raw material for paper making in early 70's only when Government took a conscious decision to increase domestic paper production capacity to meet the sudden spurt in domestic pulp & paper demand. Aided with various Government encouraging initiatives and policies a number of small recycled fiber based and other non-conventional ( agro ) based pulp and paper mills were installed. In the formative years, this segment of the industry was not very much organized and the capacity of the mills ranged from 4 tpd to 30 tpd producing only low grades of paper. The actual growth of the recycled fiber segment was observed only after 1990's. Since then, over the years , the consumption of recycled fiber has gradually increased from a mere 0.75 million tons in 1991 to 3.1 million tons in the year 2005. In the same period , however, a very marginal increase in waste paper recovery has been observed which has been . from 0.355 million tons in 1991 to just 1.1 million tons in 2005 . To compensate this shortfall the country has gone for increased imports of waste paper from foreign countries

PROJECTED DEMAND   

As per the Finnish Consulting Company Jaakko Poyry�s estimate, the projected demand of paper in India will rise up to 8.3 million tonnes by 2010. The waste paper requirement accordingly will increase to 3.7 million tonnes which will constitute a share of around 51 % in the total raw material furnish used by the Indian paper industry. The availability of waste paper from indigenous sources is expected to be around 2.5 million tonnes 2010 provided proper policy and planning is made to enhance the recovery rate of indigenous waste paper in the country.

AVAILABILITY OF DOMESTIC WASTE PAPER

Waste paper recovery system in India is very unorganized and unplanned . As a result, large quantities of waste paper get diverted for cheaper packaging and other uses or get destroyed as rubbish. Bulk of waste paper collected by street collectors in metropolitan cities goes to household paper bag manufacturers. Due to lack of any grading/ classification system in context of waste paper, no sorting or segregation is done at source and so most of the waste paper varieties are collected in commingled form. The probable sources of waste paper collection are as under :

Waste Paper Source Examples

Domestic refuse Newspaper, magazines, board cartons.

Industrial refuse Corrugated boards, duplex & other packaging board, paper sacks etc.

Office refuse Ledger files and papers from Govt. offices,

Universities & large business organizations.

Trade refuse Boards trimmings from converters & packaging manufactures, paper savings from printers

Road Sweeping Newspapers and magazines are usually recycled directly as wrapping and packaging papers by the grocers and pretty traders and therefore they are not available for mills in their first rejection. Other fibrous domestic refuse probably find their way as road sweepings.

In India, collection of office refuse has not been very high mainly due to unavailability of a viable collection system. In practice, more than 80% of the paper consumed in India is being collected, of which only 20% is being made available to paper industry and the rest 60% is usually diverted for other diversified / secondary uses such as wrapping, packing etc.

The developed countries, which are the major players in paper recycling business, have a well defined and planned waste paper grading system in place, which facilitates the collection of recovered paper sorted in grades with a limited mixture of fiber types. Due to limited capacities of landfill sites and (municipal) incineration plants, increasing waste disposal costs and environmental awareness a wide range of legislation / directives in various countries have been imposed which has promoted material recycling and reduced further , the generation of waste that requires disposal in appropriate facilities. These regulations set responsibilities for taking back used paper products and packaging material independent of the public disposal system and recycling them.

In India, however, no such regulations / law / directives is in force to promote use of recyclable resources, as a result of which the recovery of used paper is also low. As per the statistics available , the Indian paper industry is using more than 70% of imported waste paper in its total waste paper consumption . The general issues related with use of imported waste paper in Indian Paper Industry are:

Ø Inconsistency in quality and varieties of waste paper grades.

Ø High level of contamination i.e. prohibitives & out throws.

Ø Price fluctuation in the international market.

Ø High price for good quality waste paper i.e. low to negligible contamination level.

Ø High ash content in paper leading to low fiber yield / t paper and generation of inorganic sludge.

ISSUES RELATED TO WASTE PAPER BASED MILLS

Inspite of the fact that waste paper processing for paper making is considered to be an eco friendly process , there are certain technological & environmental issues still associated with waste paper based mills which needs to be addressed to improve its environmental compatibility.

Technological Issues   

The main objective of recycled fiber processing is the removal of contaminants and elimination of their effects as much as necessary to meet quality requirements. Removal of contaminants makes recycled fiber processing systems significantly more complex than systems for virgin fibers. There are several unit operations / stages viz. slushing, screening, cleaning, flotation, disperger etc. to remove the contaminants from recycled fiber stock. The technology is well established to produce newsprint, packaging grades and fine papers and most of the mills in USA, Europe have state-of-art technology for processing of recycled fiber. In India, however, most of the recycled fiber based mills do not have appropriate system configuration for efficient processing, as a result the quality of finished paper is low. The level of technology in majority of mills is obsolete. The operational efficiency of equipments and machines are also considerably below the optimum level . Due to lack of appropriate configurations, the amount of rejects generated are also high and is a major source of solid waste generated in such mills .










Environmental Issues
  
Among the environmental issues associated with recycled fiber mills , solid waste disposal and management is the subject of main concern. Deinkined sludge generated from deinking plants in mills using printed waste paper for producing writing & printing grade of paper , consists of mainly fillers and coating pigments, fibers, fiber fines, printing inks and adhesive components. A characteristic feature of the deinking sludge is its high ash content in the range of 40% - 70%. Traces of heavy metals may also be present in some cases. In most of the cases the heavy metal content is insignificant and sometimes even below the detection limit. The another important issue reported recently is the clandestine import of other waste like plastics, metal and cloth / rags etc (technically defined as prohibitive and out throws) along with waste paper.

OBESRVATION & REMARKS   

Generally the waste paper being imported in the country are recovered in segregated form as per the request of the importer. However, some cases have been reported wherein municipal solid waste constituting of plastics, metal cans and cloth / rags etc (technically defined as prohibitive and out throws) have been illegally imported in grab of imported waste paper This has led to the need of defining / formulating the permissible limits for the contaminants like plastics, metal cans and cloth / rags etc. in the imported paper . At present, no data /guideline is available on this issue Therefore; it is recommended to undertake an indepth study on this issue so as to evolve permissible limits for prohibitives and outthrows in the imported waste paper consignments entering into the country.


      






Video-Future of Paper and Packaging
HISTORY OF PAPER TECHNOLOGY IN INDIA
BY LALIT TIWARI

Paper manufacturing and book printing mark the beginning of the knowledge revolution. In ancient India knowledge spread verbally through the word of mouth from the teacher to the disciple, hence it was called Shruti. But with the discovery of scripts, written records gradually replaced the verbal transmission of thought.

It is interesting to note that mutual East-to East technological exchanges among Asian nations were frequent. I am sure, the Silk Road must also have played a significant role in the spread of early technologies. For example, the Bower Manuscript (mss), which is named after its discoverer was found in 1890, in Kuchar, in Eastern Turkestan, on the great caravan route of China. The large medical treatise called Navanitaka forms the second part of the Bower mss. The date of that mss falls in the second half of the fourth century A.D. Similarly, zinc smelting began in China in the Jiajung period (1552-1566 AD) of the Ming dynasty, though it was being produced in India in the 12th Century AD. It is believed that Buddhist monks also played a significant role in the transmission of medicinal and zinc technologies among the Asian countries.

It seems that the Chinese were the first to make paper, from where the technology went to Samarkand. From there it eventually reached India. Soon the Indian paper was being exported to West Asia, Europe and Turkey.

Let us trace the development of writing materials in India. We notice that Al Biruni, the great medieval scholar, always very objective and observant, records a good deal of information about writing materials also.

Ancient Indian Writing Materials  

In India, the available writing materials were generally of two types: hard and soft. Stone, metal, shells and earthenware were the examples of hard material. Engraving, embossing, painting and scratching were used for writing. Soft materials were wooden board (pati), dust (dhuli), birch-bark (bhurja-patra), palm-leaves (tada-patra), leather (ajina), cotton cloths (karpasika pata) and paper.

Ancient Hard Writing Materials  

Stone: - Stone engravings were made on caves, smoothed or rough pillars, slabs, lids of vases, caskets, etc. These dealt with official and private records, royal proclamations, land-grants, eulogies and memorials.

Metal: - Commonly gold, silver, brass, bronze, iron and tin, copper were used as writing materials.

Shell: - Specimens of some inscribed conch-shells have been discovered from the ruins of a Buddhist establishment at Salihundam in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh.

Bricks, earthenware, terracotta: - In ancient times bricks, earthenware and terracotta were also used as writing material. Bricks and earthenware were generally scratched before being dried or baked.

Ancient Soft Writing Materials  

Wooden board: - About 5th centaury BC the wooden board was used for writing purposes. Writing on it could be done with a piece of chalk (pandu-lekha). This method was used for teaching. Al-Biruni, the great Arabian medieval scholar, also writes, "The (the Hindus) use black tablets for the children in the school and write upon them along the long side, not the broad side, writing with a white material from the left to the right".

Birch-bark: - The inner bark of bhurja (Betula spp.) tree was the most popular material for writing manuscripts, especially in northern-western India. Al-Biruni informs, "In central and northern India, people use the bark of the tuz tree, one kind of which is used as a cover for bows. It is called bhurja. They take a piece, one yard long, and as broad as the outstretched fingers of the hand, or somewhat less, and prepare it in various ways. They oil and polish it, so as to make it hard and smooth and they write on it."

Palm-leaves (tada-patra): - In southern India, palm-leaves tada or tala or tali were widely used for writing manuscripts. Al-Biruni has observed, "The Hindus have, in the south of their country, a slender tree like the date and coconut palms, bearing edible fruits and leaves of the length of one yard and as broad as three figures, one put beside the other. They call these leaves tati and write on them… They bind a book of these leaves together by a cord on which they are arranged, the cord going through all the leaves by a hole in the middle of each…They write the title of a book at the end of it, not at the beginning".

Leather: - Leather was rarely used as writing material in India, but in early and medieval times is was predominant in western Asia and Europe. Al-Biruni also notes, "The Hindus are not in the habit of writing on hides, like the Greeks in ancient times".

Cloth: - Smooth and non-porous cotton cloth was also used as writing material in ancient India. Nearchos (4th centaury BC), an admiral of Alexander's fleet, was the first to mention that the Indians used to write letters on well-beaten cotton cloth.

Paper: - Paper, as a writing material, was hardly known in India before the 11th century AD. Al-Biruni writes, "it was in China that paper was first manufactured, Chinese prisoners introduced the fabrication of paper in Samarkand, and thereupon it was made in various places, so as to meet the existing want".

Paper In India  

The Chinese prisoners of war, brought to Samarkand after the battle of Atlakh near Talas, first introduced (AD 751) the technique of papermaking from linen, flax or hemp rags based on methods used in China.

Ibn Nadim observed in Al-Fihristi: "The Chinese write on Chinese paper made from a sort of herbage. This (industry) is a great source of income for the city. The Arabs learnt the technique of paper-making from the Chinese captives at Samarkand and diffused it westward". Al-Biruni also stated, "The Chinese captives introduced it in Samarkand whence it diffused to other parts of the world".

After the paper technology reached the Arabs, the Arabians improved the technique and supplemented linen with flax and other vegetable fibres. With the conquest of Sind by the Arabs, Khurasani paper was first introduced in India early in the eighth century AD, and it continued to be imported for several centuries.

The reference to Indian paper suggests that the paper-making industry, however limited, had already been established in India, most probably in Delhi and Lahore, the two chief political and cultural seats of the Sultanate period.

In India, the first paper industry was developed in Kashmir, established by Sultan Zainul Abedin (Shahi Khan) of Kashmir in 1417-67 AD. Actually his father Sultan Sikander (c.1386-1410) was ruling over Kashmir at the time of Timur's invasion of India (AD 1398). Sultan Sikander sent an embassy, led by his son, Shahi Khan, to that formidable personage and sought his friendship. Timur summoned him for a meeting but in the meanwhile political developments at home compelled him to leave India. He hastened to Samarkand but took along Shahi Khan and kept him virtually as a hostage until his death. Shahi Khan returned to Kashmir with many artisans and persons skilled in various trades with a view to introducing new industries there. These included paper-makers, bookbinders, harness-makers and midwives. The author of Tarikh-i-Kashmir stated the following about Shahi Khan, "During his stay at Samarkand he acquired knowledge. When he returned to Kashmir he brought with him a number of artisans skilled in different trades such as paper-makers, book-binders, carpet-makers, harness-makers and well trained midwives."

Soon, because of its quality, the Kashmiri paper was much in demand in the world and the rest of the country for writing manuscripts. According to Tarikh-i-Farishta, "Sultan Abu Said sent fine Arab horses and strong camels of good breed as presents to Sultan Zainul Abedin. Pleased with this act of courtesy, Sultan Zainul Abedin in return, sent saffron, paper, musk, perfumes, rose-water, vinegar, elegant shawls, glass bowls and other fine products of Kashmir industry".

Indian Paper Manufacture Centers    

With the rapid demand of writing materials the paper making centers were established in different parts of the country like in Sialkot (Punjab); Zafarabad in district Jaunpur (Oudh); Bihar Sharif in district Azimabad (Patna) and Arwal in district Gaya (Bihar); Murshidabad and Hooghly (Bengal) ; Ahmedabad, Khambat and Patan (Gujarat) ; and Aurangabad and Mysore in the south.

• Out of these, the Punjab was the leading center. Sialkot paper was white in colour and very stout. It was used throughout Punjab.

• In Uttar Pradesh, Zafarabad is a famous town of district Jaunpur. It was known as Kaghdi Shahar (paper city) in olden times. It produced a very fine, glossy and strong variety of bamboo paper. Generally two varieties of paper were produced here, first was the polished paper, which was exceedingly glossy, and second was unpolished paper.

• Bihar had two major papermaking centers in medieval times. First was Arwal town in district Gaya, and second was Bihar Sharif in district Azimabad (Patna).

• In Bengal, Murshidabad and Hooghly were the major papermaking centers in the medieval times. At a later period, Dinajpur also started manufacturing paper.

• After some time, Gujarat developed as the largest producer of paper. It supplied paper to rest of India and also exported to the West, other Asian countries and Turkey also. In Gujarat, Ahmedabad was the largest papermaking center, it produced white and glossy paper.

• During the Mughal period, Daulatabad, with Aurangabad as its capital, emerged as an important papermaking center. The most remarkable feature of Daulatabadi paper was its durability and glossiness. Daulatabad was the chief supply center of paper to south India.

• Tipu Sultan developed papermaking centers in Mysore. The paper produced by Mysore, was a high quality paper, which was employed only for royal use.

• Other big paper making centers of medieval India were: Sanganer (in Jaipur, Rajasthan), Kotah (Rajasthan), Tijarah (in Alwar, Rajasthan), Kannauj (in Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh), Kalpi and Pukharayan in Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), Maler-Kotlal (Punjab), Hariharganj(in district Shahabad, Bihar), Kalita (in district Pabna, now in Bangladesh), Panchamnagar (in district Damoh, Madhya Pradesh), Dharangaon and Erandel town (in district East Khandesh, Maharashtra) and Poona.

Generally Indian papermaking centers produced glazed paper. Rahman has categorized ancient paper into seven categories: Kashmiri, Ahmedabadi, Hyderabadi, Faizabadi, Khasah-i-Jahangiri, Kanpuri and Aurangabadi.

• Ahmedabadi paper was a little thick and was of two qualities: fine and superfine. The paper had extra whiteness and glossiness.

• Kashmiri paper was stout and glazed. Some Kashmiri centers produced superfine paper called silken paper.

• Khasah-i-Jahangiri paper was made at Sialkot. The paper was glossy, thin, polished and bluish white.

• Hyderabadi paper was well glazed; some was polished and of brown colour with very fine shades.

• Faizabadi paper had three varieties: i) unpolished paper (medium quality); ii) pale yellow; and iii) polished dark yellow.

• Kanpuri paper was prepared from bamboo and was greyish in colour.

• Aurangabadi paper was glossy and stout, had a few varieties like, Bahadur Khani (medium quality paper, thick, stout and durable), Sahib Khani paper (medium quality, thick), Murad Shahi paper (fine quality), Sharbati paper thick and fine), Qasim Begi paper (thick), Ruba-Kari paper (This variety was made in four or five different grades) and Balapuri paper (four or five varieties of different colours).

Indian Technique of Paper Making  

Rahman describes the old Indian technique of papermaking and its tools. According to Rahman, the main tools used for papermaking were: dhegi (hammer), chhapri (screen), and sacha (teakwood frame), kunchawas (soft date-palm brush), and polishing stone.

The techniques of papermaking were essentially the same throughout the country, differing only in the preparation of pulp from different materials.

According to Rahman, "the process of making paper from waste paper was not very difficult. The waste paper was torn to pieces, sorted according to colour, moistened with water, taken to the river and pounded with stones, and washed for three days. It was then taken to a cistern about 7ft x 4ftx 4ft deep, half - filled with water. The pulp was thrown into this cistern. When it was thoroughly dissolved, the workman sitting on the edge of the pit, bending over the water, took in both hands the square frame which held the screen serving as a sieve, passed it underwater and drew it slowly and evenly to the surface; such that, as the water passed through, a uniform film of pulp was left on the screen. The screen was then lifted up and turned over, and the film of paper was spread on a rag cushion. When sufficient layers had been heaped on this cushion, about 9-14 inches high, a rag was spread over them and a plank weighted with heavy stones was laid over it. When this pressure had drained the water and some of the moisture out of the stock of paper, the stones were taken away and two men, one standing at each end of the plank, see-sawed over the bundle of paper by hand. When it was well pressed the paper was peeled off, layer after layer, and spread to dry either on the walls of the building or on rags laid in the sun. When dried, each sheet was laid on the polished wooden board and rubbed with a shell till it shone".

The above process was used for making rough paper.

Rahman describes another process of glazed papermaking. According to Rahman, firstly the material was cut into small pieces, moistened with water and pounded by a heavy fixed hammer, the dhegi. Then washed with clean water and moistened with slaked lime and left in a heap on the floor for seven or eight days, then pounded again, heaped and left to lie for four days more. Again washed this material (rag) with plane water and washed material mixed with khar (impure carbonate of soda, 1 khar : 38 pulp)) overnight. This rag was again washed and again mixed with khar (1 khar : 40 pulp) and dried in the sun. And again kept in water overnight and again washed. Washed rags were mixed with country soap (1 soap : 27rags) and pounded and dried. Then this pulp was washed again. Then placed into a cement-lined cistern, about 7ft x 4ft x 4ft deep. The rest of the process was similar to the above described technique.

Ray describes other processes of papermaking. According to Ray, the old clothes, old tents, the bark of certain shrubs and trees were washed well and soaked in water for few days; these materials were beaten with wooden hammer (dhegi). The pulp was mixed with a little water in a lime-lined (cunam) reservoir, where the beating operation was also carried out. The workman dipped their moulds into the reservoir, and the mixture, when lifted out, would become paper. It was then removed, and each sheet drawn through a second reservoir of water and then hung up to dry in sun. A quantity of gum Arabic was dissolved in water and then the beaten pulp was placed. The water in the second reservoir, through which the sheets were drawn, also contained gum in the form of mucilage, as well as some alum dissolved in it. The moulds or forms used by the workmen were generally made of bamboo. The gum Arabic was obtained as an exudation from the babool tree.

Modern Period  

Gondhalekar has also described the process of making handmade paper, which involved cutting, dusting and washing of the tat (discarded hessian sacks) then beating the tat under a treadmill, followed by washing. This washed mass was mixed with saji matti (naturally occurring sodium carbonate) and lime and exposed the mass to the sun in an open verandah for several days for sun bleaching. And this dried material was subjected to rewashing. And if necessary, the saji and lime treatment was repeated.

Then thoroughly stirring the pulp in a masonry vat sunk in the ground and lifting the sheet on a grass mat. After this sticking the wet sheets on lime plastered walls for drying and applying starch-paste on both sides of the dried sheet and glazing the dry sheet on a concave wooden board, with a smooth agate burnisher. And finally cutting to required sizes.

The above process could produce a fairly strong paper. Such paper was mainly used by the Government for state records, by priests for religious books, and by moneylenders and traders for account books.
Consistent with their policy of dismantling Indian industries, like iron, copper, textile etc, they also disbanded the native handmade paper industry. According to Bansal and Kumar (2001), "the handmade paper industry was in full bloom until the early part of the 19th century and enjoyed a very special status under state patronage. The British who were now ruling India completely banned the use of hand-made paper in all government offices and they started the import of machine-made paper from Britain. A few paper mills were established in India by the end of the 19th century, as a result of which a lot of cheap machine made paper appeared in the market for public use. This further caused a severe blow to the industry and made it difficult to survive. Many people engaged in it lost their jobs. This was a rough time for the Indian hand-made paper industry. Swadeshi movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi played a positive role in reviving the handmade paper industry. For the success of the movement, Gandhi ji drew the support of the manufacturers of consumer articles in the country and formed the All India Village Industries Association (AIVIA). Hand-made paper was also included in the list of village industries, which needed financial support and patronage for its products. Since there was a competitive market of cheap machine made paper of almost all varieties, it was imperative to improve the quality of indigenous products. For this purpose, in 1935, All-India Village Industries Association started a training centre at Maganwadi in Wardha (Maharashtra) under the guidance of Sri Kumarappa, a devout Gandhian and economist. This training centre was later renamed as Jamna Lal Bajaj Research Institute".

In 1924, more and more paper mills of India began to use bamboo as main raw material.

Paper Production in India  

In 1925, Bamboo Paper Industry (Protection) Act and in 1931, Indian Finance (Supplementary and Extending) Act came into existence which provided the protection, and some more mills appeared on the scene. Rohtas Industries Ltd., Dalmianagar; Orient Paper Mills, Brajraj Nagar; Mysore Paper Mills Ltd., Bhadravati; Star Paper Mills Ltd., Saharanpur; and Sirpur Paper Mills, Kagajnagar, Sirpur; were set up just before the outbreak of the Second World War. Indian paper Industry made remarkable progress during the war period.

In 1925, Punjab Paper Mills was started with an annual capacity of 6000 tons. By 1930-1931, the total capacity of paper production in India was increased to 45,600 tons as against 33,000 tons in 1925. The share of indigenous production in national consumption was now 71 % as against 54% in 1925.

Bansal and Kumar describe the net production of paper in India during the 1911-1950:

Year Production (thousand tons) Year Production (thousand tons)

1911 27.2 1945 110.1

1921 24.7 1946 105.1

1931 40.0 1948 92.8

1941 95.0 1949 106.1

1942 92.5 1950 109.3

1943 102.6 –

* Source: Bansal and Kumar. 2001. Paper making. In History of Technology in India. Pp: 722.

Production of individual paper Mills in 1947:

S.No. Year Name and location Production (Tons)

1 1881 Upper India Cooper Paper Mills, Lucknow 2,0302
2 1882 Titagarh Paper Mills Titagarh and Kankinara 38,550
3 1887 Bengal Paper Mills, Raniganj 11,760
4 1887 Deccan Paper Mills, Hadaspur 3,090
5 1918 India Paper Pulp, Naihati 6,040
6 1925 Andhra Paper Mills; Rajahmundry 1,630
7 1925 Shree Gopal Paper Mills, Yamunanagar 10,360
8 1931 Punalur Paper Mills, Punalur 4,120
9 1933 Gujarat Paper Mills, Barejadi 1,500
10 1935 F. Pudumjee, Bombay 1,120
11 1936 Star Paper Mills, Saharanpur 4,250
12 1936 Orient Paper Mills, Brajrajnagar 27,310
13 1937 Mysore Paper Mills, Bhadravati 3,990
14 1938 Sirpur Paper Mills, Sirpur-Kaghaznagar 5,480
15 1939 Rohtas Industries, Dalmianagar 12,860
* Source: Bansal and Kumar. 2001. Paper making. In History of Technology in India. Pp: 723.

The First Printing of Indian Characters
The 16 pages of Doctrina Christina were translated into Tamil language by Fr Henriques and Fr Manoel de Sao Pedro. This was printed in the Malabar Coast in 1578. This little work known only from this one copy becomes the earliest example of printing in the characters of one of the language of India. The 16 pages are printed on a single sheet, in conventional octavo format, the pages measuring approximately 14x10 cm.

Conclusion  
The handmade glazed paper was a remarkable product of medieval India. Bark and leaves of trees, silk or cotton clothes, planks, leather and parchment formed this paper. This paper was not only used in India but also exported to other countries. But nowadays the handmade paper industry is declining rapidly. Only a few areas are still there which produce handmade quality paper.
___________________________________________________________________
Sources:
Al-Biruni. Kitabul Hind (Leyden Edition), P. 31.

Bansal M. C. and Mukesh Kumar. 2001. Paper making. In History of Technology in India. (Ed. K. V. Mittal). New Delhi: Indian National Science Academy. Pp. 714-725.

Chaudhuri, Mamata. 1997. Writing materials. In History of Technology in India (Ed. A. K. Bag). New Delhi: Indian National Science Academy. Pp. 639-645.

Kesavan, B. S. 1985. History of Printing and Publishing in India. Vol-1. Delhi: National Book Trust. Pp: 26-31.

Rahman, A. 1998. Paper technology in India. In History of Indian Science Technology and Culture (Ed. A. Rahman). Delhi: Oxford University Press. Pp. 261-273.

Ray, Mira. 1999. Paper and written communication. In Chemistry and Chemical Techniques in India. (Ed. B. V. Subbarayappa). Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. Pp. 311-323.

Ray, P. (Ed.). 1956. History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India. Calcutta: Indian Chemical Society.

________________________________________

Lalit Tiwari, Lok Vigyan Kendra, Almora 263601, Email: ltherbal@rediffmail.com


  


[DOWN LOAD PDF FILE]
"ENERGY AND WATER SAVING IN PAPER INDSUTRY"

  

 




PAPER: HOW MUCH WILL WE REALY SAVE  

This is a collection of statistics and numbers to show the potential impact of Margin Changing, as well as some general stats I've come across in my research about paper usage, the paper industry and the environment. I'll continue to add to the page as I find more useful facts & figures.

MARGIN CHANGE IMPACT  

According to a study done by the Penn State Green Destiny Council, reducing margins to .75” on all sides results in a total reduction of paper by 4.75%. (1) This means that using these Efficient Margins on a ton of paper saves 19 reams of paper, which saves 1.14 trees.

This calculation is based on the following stats from Conservatree (2):

-1 ton of uncoated virgin (non-recycled) 20# printing and office paper uses 24 trees.

-1 ream of paper (500 sheets) uses 6% of a tree.

-1 tree makes 16.67 reams of copy paper or 8,333.3 sheets

-The trees that are being used to make the paper are a mix of 40 foot-tall hardwoods and softwoods, 6-8" in diameter.

So, you ask, what’s the big deal? 1.14 trees don’t seem like much of a tree-savings for a whole ton of paper. So cynical! Check these numbers out - they add up fast:

In 2003, the U.S. consumed approx. 5.4 million tons of office paper (3). If everyone used Efficient Margins, every year we would save 6,156,000 trees. (4)

Here's how you get that figure:

(5.4 million tons) x (Efficient Margins saving factor of .0475) x (24 trees/ton) = 6,156,000 trees

And by reducing the amount of extra paper we'd have to create, we'd save a lot in energy costs and waste products, too...



-Total energy: 9,840,368 million British thermal units (Btus), which is enough to provide power to 108,136 homes

-Greenhouse gas emissions: 1,459,535,366 pounds, which is the equivalent of CO2 emissions from 132,528 cars

-Solid waste: 584,396,539 lbs, which is the equivalent of 20,871 fully loaded garbage trucks

-Wastewater: 4.8 billion gallons, which is enough to fill 7,408 Olympic-sized swimming pools

Suddenly, one little margin change feels like it has a lot more impact!

MARGINAL SAVINGS    

If you’ve become Margins convert and want to convince your company or school to adopt the standards, you can use these equations to figure out the “tree” and $$$ savings:

Calculating Tree Savings

To figure out how many trees you'll save by changing your margins, use this equation:

 
(amount of paper needed) x (frequency) x (efficient margin savings factor of .0475) x (# of trees used in paper creation) = trees saved

For example, you have a 25-page interdepartmental project update that goes out every week to everyone in the company (300 people). That's 7500 sheets of paper or 15 reams used every week. Here's what the equation looks like with the numbers plugged in:

 
(15 reams) x (52 weeks/year) x (efficient margin savings factor of .0475) x (.06 trees/ream used) = 2.22 trees saved/year.

-Every week, 7500 sheets (15 reams) of paper are used for the update.

-This is a total of 780 reams/year for this project.

-780 reams uses 46.8 trees.

-Applying Efficient Margins saves 2.22 trees during the year.

Calculating $$$ Savings

To figure out how much money you'll save by changing your margins, use this equation:

(amount of paper needed) x (frequency) x (efficient margin savings factor of .0475) x ($2.50 - average bulk price for one ream of paper) = cost savings

Using the same example, the equation would look like this with the numbers plugged in:

(15 reams) x (52 weeks/year) x (efficient margin savings factor of .0475) x ($2.50) = $92.63

-Every week, 7500 sheets (15 reams) of paper are used for the update.

-This is a total of 780 reams/year for this project.

-780 reams costs $1950.00.

-Applying Efficient Margins means you only need 742.95 reams, which costs $1857.00, which means an annual savings of $92.63.

For some, almost $100 bucks is a nice chunk of change, for others, it’s merely pocket change. The key to making this idea work is that no matter how big or small the savings are from your perspective, the more people who actually do it, the more of a positive impact we’ll have on the environment. But since more often than not, businesses make decisions based on money as opposed to what’s good for the planet, here’s a handy dandy little chart I’ve put together for the costs savings for different amounts of paper


 




Video - Corrugating Box Making












Aspects of Corrugated Boxes
Corrugated Overview    
World has all kinds of different packaging, shipping, and corrugated boxes to stand out, it is because it has the simple purpose of light and caused it to make products easier to transport and sales. Today's corrugated box market in the product plays an important role, it is a new image from the mediocre "carton" bodiless from. Please take a look at the multiple functions of corrugated boxes: boxes of style, shape and design makes a vibrant packaging also makes products in the transportation and warehousing aspects of efficiency. Exaggeration of the pattern as a beautiful color and unique shape Jieke attract attention, so as to achieve mass escape the effects of the fast-speed sales. Printed on the carton on the content of the product, size, quantity, directions for use and handling instructions, etc., can make your products quickly reach their destination intact.


Corrugated materials can be recycled resources is also suitable for recycling after use


Corrugated box is wood fibers, wood fibers can be decomposed by natural processes; and timber in the planting and harvesting plans will not, under depletion. Most of the recyclable waste corrugated paper and then create new material, is a major contribution to environmental protection.


  What are corrugated cardboard? Corrugated board is a multi-layered laminated body, it at least by a layer of corrugated paper core sandwich (commonly known as "Hang Zhang," or "corrugated") and a layer of cardboard (commonly known as "leather card") constitutes. It has high mechanical strength to withstand handling during the collision and wrestling.


Depends on the actual performance of corrugated three factors: the core characteristics of paper and paperboard and cardboard structure itself.


Classification of corrugated board According to different combinations of corrugated board can be divided into the following five types:


   By the core layer of kraft paper and paperboard card form known as "Lucy corrugated cardboard." Lucy corrugated cardboard, it is generally used as a cushion, spacing and irregular shape of the object wrapped.


   by the core layer of kraft paper and card from top to bottom consisting of two layers of cardboard called "single-hole board."


   two core sub-folder in the three kraft paper inside the card referred to as "double pit board." Two-hole board can be different in different pit width and pit or sheets of paper, such as "B", corrugated paper with "C" corrugated paper.


   three core sub-folder in the four kraft paper inside the card called "Sankeng cardboard."


   an exceptionally strong board determined by catamaran developed from a single pit board, it is the middle of the core layer of paper stacked by the two thick laminated core made of paper.


Should appreciate that, and today we can produce many different combinations of corrugated board, the board has a different character and intensity to meet changing market needs.


Types of pit pattern Grooves according to the size of the core piece of paper, that is, its height and length of each unit of the number of charge within the grooves, corrugated cardboard can be further broken down. There are four grooves core paper, the following table shows the Mitsubishi, and Hang machine produced by Langston cardboard.


By the thick "A" pit pattern caused by carton, compared with "B" and "C" has a better top and bottom compressive strength, but "A" and "B" pit pattern comparison, thin "B" has a better resistance of grooves on the pressure resistance. "A" and "C" pattern for the next pit under the pressure and they need to absorb the energy of the carton packaging manufacturing. "B" pit pattern applies to the capacity and space is more important, the stacking strength than the secondary carton manufacturing. "E" pit pattern has the highest resistance to stress, but the shock absorption capacity of somewhat less. Mainly used to carry heavy loads Offset (Printing) corrugated boxes.


Paper core material Corrugated larger diameter hole, the stronger its rigidity. Board's toughness comes from the core paper layer, without thick hard filler. This would reduce the board weight and cost. Paper core can be semi-chemical pulp (such pulp paper can provide the best strength) and expected to result in recovered paper. The latter because of low cost, so as Hong Kong manufacturers are willing to adopt, although the paper strength than the former, but by adding starch to improve the paper mill.


Within the grooves in the corrugated occupy a certain space, their role is also very important, it can withstand the flat by pressure, lateral pressure, and other irregular pressure.


Kraft Card Leather card form the inner and outer layer of corrugated board, its function can be structural and / or decorative aspects. Layers of kraft cardboard cards to provide a variety of features, and these features can be adhesive, wax and other machining processes can be expanded.


Structural strength of the Enlightenment Below the required strength if the carton, on the need to identify the intrinsic junction. Do not take for granted that all cartons are necessary to thicken Hard. You know, making such "feeding" carton costs. Therefore, the question of cartons to be the right remedy. Check the scope of a multi-faceted, such as cardboard boxes are damaged in transit, stacking method is defective, if excessive loading, handling it properly; perhaps, the problem also investigated and traced back to empty the storage method.

You to take all measures to minimize loss, do not confine themselves to "thick hardened" narrow conception. Remember to change the shape often the same purpose carton! Find out you do have a capable and talented carton supplier, and he can meet your individual needs, and are free to give you boxes and related components of the technical guidance.

Corrugated box has three test categories:
Corrugated paper and kraft card test;



  Corrugated board test: The carton testing. Test project, basis weight test, core paper flat crush test, ring compression test, pressure test paper core side, leather card side pressure test, corrugated board flat crush test corrugated lateral pressure testing, burst strength test , box pressure test, test boxes fall.

  Purchasing Manager Information: Learn more industrial and corrugated paper box package design, allows you to know how to save money.

Select the core you need to use paper and leather card:

Core paper and kraft card paper box factory can manufacture all kinds of combination of a carton from a strong and cheap products and even the delicate but high prices of products, which almost meet the demand of packaging products. Cardboard can be used in different grooves receive some special effects, such as compression, and vibration, and weight-bearing and so on. Appropriate choices can also reduce the use of materials and warehousing space.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Independence India and Independent Indian Paper Industry



"Happy Independence Day"
TO
 All Paper Industry's
Employers, Employees, Suppliers, Customers, Distributors, Dealers, Machinery and Equipement Manufcturers, and Service Secotors
SREE OHM ASSOOCIATESS
-{Introduction Letter-(Click Here)}

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{Click BelowTittle for Free PDF File}



$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$



Videos= Click Below Tittle

1. Costing System for Paper Industry














Tamil Movie-Madharasa Pattinam-1947[Chennai]
-Indepentendance of Love-[CLICK HERE]
















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Future prospects of Indian paper industry.

Indian paper and newsprint industry has a huge potentials and prospects in coming future. In our, country, demand for paper and newspaper is rapidly increasing. There are vast demands in the area of tea bags, filer paper, tissue paper, medical-grade coated paper, lightweight online coated paper, etc. Indian paper industry is one of the underestimated industries, because India’s per capita consumption of paper is just about 5 kg. whereas it is 337 kg in North America, 110 kg. in Europe and 30 kg. in China. Compare to this scenario India’ par capita consumption is one of the lowest in the World.

The Rs. 22000-crore paper industry in India, rated 15th largest in world engaged about 1.5 million people with the help of Rs. 2500 crore Government subsidy. Government has given paper industry as one of the 35 high-priority lists.

There are about 515 manufacturing units engaged in production of paper, newsprint and paperboards in India with have the annual capacity of 8.3 million tones, which likely to be 16 million tonnes by 2014. There are few state owned and private players in the emerging paper industry like Hindustan Newsprint Ltd(HNL), Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Ltd(TNPL), Ballarpur Industries Ltd (BUILT), Seshasayee Paper & Board Ltd. (SPBL), ITC Paper.

Indian Government has completely delicensed the paper industry under the Industries (Development & Regulation) Act with effect from17th July, 1997. The interested entrepreneurs or existing players now require to file an Industrial Entrepreneur’ Memorandum (IEM) with the Secretariat for Industrial Assistance(SIA) for setting up a new paper mill or substantial expansion of the existing mill in permissible locations. The foreign direct investment is allowed upto 100% in paper industry except those who require industrial license with prior approval from Reserve Bank of India.

The biggest stumbling blocks in Indian paper industry:
1. Remove the bottlenecks of good quality of raw materials (forest based wood pulp) and bulk import of waste paper to bridge the gap of short supply of raw materials.
2. High cost of raw materials and lack of modernization of the manufacturing units.
3. Rising power and shipping logistics cost and concentration of mills in one particular area.
4. Quality improvements and reduction
5. No rehabilitations packages for near about 194 small-scale paper manufacturing units, which are sick or lying sick.
6. Import duty on pulp and waste paper, wood raw materials & technologies etc.
Few promising players in the paper production:

Ballarpur Industries Ltd(BILT), part of the US$ 3 bn Avantha Group, is India’s largest manufacturer of writing and printing paper. More than 50% of India’s coated wood-free grades roll out of BILT’s state-of-the-art plants and machineries. BILT has an impressive 85% share of the bond paper market in India. Not only that BILT is the only Indian paper company to feature in the global top 100 list. Its recent acquisition of Malaysia’s Sabah Forest Industries are expected to start operations by 2009-December, end.

Seshasayee Paper & Board Ltd., one of the South Indian based company have been producing Fine Paper since 1960. Now they are commissioning its new pulp production units with an additional investment of Rs. 3,000 million. They are expected to see in-house plup production going up to 440-tonnes a day from 240-tonnes a day. They have the customers over the 20 countries with extensive range of product cater the various customers.

Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited (TNPL) owned by the Government of Tami Nadu started early eighties to produce Newsprint and Printing & Writing Paper. The TNPL has initial capacity of 90,000 tonnes per annum. Gradually company has increased its production to 2,45,000 tonnes per annum. Company has emerged as the largest bagasse based Paper Mill in the world consuming about one million tones of bagasse every year. In their forthcoming ambitious project, company has plan to invest Rs. 1000 crore for expanding of production capacity 4,00,000 lakh tonnes from present 2,45,000 tonnes per annum.

ITC Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division is India’s largest and most technologically advanced paper and paperboards business. ITC has the wide spectrum products like packaging, graphic, writing, printing and specialty paper through its four world-class mills in India. Company is already pioneered in many specialty applications like cigarette tissues, packaging boards, aseptic cartons and gypsum liners. In their Bhadrachalam plant, it has capacity to produce 4,00,000 tonnes of paper boards. ITC already made public announcement to invest Rs. 25,000-million by 2009 to boost its production capacity to 2 lakh tonnes.

Expectations of the industry from the Government.
The Government has taken several steps to make availability of raw materials and infrastructure development to overcome the shortage of raw materials. Duty on plup waste paper, wood logs/chips has been reduced.

The Indian Paper Mills’ Association(IPMA), has suggest to setting up of a Rs. 20,000 crore ‘paper fund’. IPMA also, suggested to setting up existing technology upgradation fund (TUF) for improvement of energy conversation, quality upgradation and product improvement.

The Indian paper industry is growing at 8 per cent per annum. It is also, expected to grow by 10 per cent by the year 2010. IPMA also, urged the Government to reduce the excise duty from 12 per cent to 8 per cent for all type of paper mills as they are looking to upgradation of 25 per cent of their capacity.

Indian paper industry has direct linkage with educational sector, manufacturing sector, as a result near about 20 per cent direct and indirect taxation on paper industry including 12% VAT, octroi, etc. Reduction of direct and indirect taxation can make more competitive player in the world.

The following measures can be taken to make Indian Industry more competitive:

Raw Material
(i)For Wood based industry: The Indian paper and newsprint industry already urges the Government to amend the laws for immediate revision of forest policy so that plantation to make use of the degraded land for raising plantations for better quality of plup. But, the Government does not permit forests to be used for sourcing woods by the corporate sector, nor does it allow industrial plantation on degraded forestlands.

(ii) For Waste Paper based Industry: Less export duty on Import of waste paper. Introduction of "Ecolabelling" system where in products made from recycled fibre are rated higher than the products made form virgin fibre. Introduction of modern and effective collection and grading system.

(iii) For Agro based industry: Funds to be made available for technology modernization and processing of agro residue fibre, particularly for small and medium scale paper industries.

Infrastructure
Improvements of communication e.g. rail, road, port which will help the entire industrial sector

Technology Upgradation
There is a wide gap between the technologies of the domestic paper industry in India compared to that of the foreign countries. Most of the paper mills are using old technologies, which is serious cause of resultant in low productivity with high costs of production.

Government Policies
(i) Social forestry scheme should be introduced to small and marginal farmers to promote sapling and know-how for raising plantations of fast growing trees with an assurance of a buy back at a remunerative price.

(ii) The industry is also seeking permit duty free imports of new & second hand machinery/equipment for Technology Up gradation.

(iii) Right now, an estimated 55-million begasse is available, but currently we are using only 8%. Begasse can be introduced in replace of using bamboo, rice or white straw.
Power Policy

More uniform cost effective Power Policy for paper production units/mills.

Newsprint prices with unprintable tag:

Virtually paper industry is decontrolled and there is no price control on finished product. As a result entire cost has shifted upon the end-users. Newsprint prices increase sharply by 24% in a short span of three months to touch a high of $760 per tonne, an increase of $145 since December 2007.

India also, imports bulk of newsprint from foreign countries. From North America we have imported 18.9 lakh tonnes in 2004 to 26.45 lakh tonnes in 2007, a CAGR of 11.9%. Domestic consumption move up by 6.40 lakh tonnes to 9.70 lakh tonnes, a CAGR 14.9%, while import went up by 12.50 lakh tonnes to 16.75 lakh tonnes, a CAGR of 10.3%. It has been estimated that domestic demand will touch 35.54 lakh tonnes in year 2009.

In a recent development, US-East Coast prices increased; as a result the ex-mill rates, ready for shipment, risen from $608 to $710 per tonne, an increase of $ 102 in just three months, it may gallope to $770 by the end of Q3 2008.

Last year, India had purchased imported newsprint at very economical rates. It has several reasons.

i) Mass production by International Paper Manufacturer

ii) Declining demand from UK and part of the Europe forced paper products to sell at economical rates in India.

iii) China was another fear factor.

Trends have reversed in North America. They went for changing product mix, cutting excess capabilities and consolidation through buyouts. At the beginning of 2007, they supply 40.5 million tonnes, which exceeded demand of 38.3 million tonnes. At the early 2008, two million tonnes of production had fallen; as a result prices rose up. In China, old newsprint, which is one of the raw materials for paper industry, nearly double to $270 per tonne in span of just 5 to 6 months.

Rising Crude price also, affect on freight rates. Recently, crude prices breached the mark $140, as a result plup prices increase from $575 to $750 per tonne.
Despite the growing demand for paper industry, there should be new policies/projects to overcome the acute shortage of raw materials and infrastructure development. As global industry is not flourishing, with the help of implementation of setting up institutional mechanism for funding technology upgradation, relax environmental laws to encourage captive plantations for raw materials, we expect that in near future India may become market leader in paper industry
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THE HISTORY OF PAPER
================================
What's the first thing that comes to mind when the question is posed: "What's paper made from?"

Just about everyone responds, "Trees," or "Wood." People assume automatically that paper is made from wood, that paper and wood are synonymous.
But in fact, paper has been made from wood only since the mid-1800s; up until the 1850s, paper was made from recycled linen and cotton rags. When the paper indusry was established in the United States, it was a recycling industry. Rags were so valued for papermaking that one mill in Massachusetts used as its paper's watermark the words, "Save Rags."
Throughout the centuries, the practice of papermaking has evolved again and again in response to economic growth, historical influences, available raw materials, and the social issues of the day. As social needs have changed over the years, the composition of paper has also changed and has in turn fueled powerful social changes and development. In fact, some argue that the social, technical and economic progress of nations is inextricably linked to the production and use of paper.

TS'AI LUN GETS THE CREDIT
The invention of paper is usually attributed to Ts'ai Lun, an official in the Chinese royal court, in A.D. 105. The invention of paper solved a pressing problem of the time. Back then, scrolls of silk were being used as books. But the development of calligraphy and the animal hair brush, and the resulting proliferation of literature, created the need for a writing material that was cheaper and more practical than pure silk. In fact, part of the Chinese ideogram character for "paper" means "silk." Ts'ai Lun's paper was made from rags, used fishing nets, hemp and China grass. The invention of paper was so important to China that the Emperor made Ts'ai Lun a noble.
The Arabs got papermaking 600 years later as one of the spoils of war. The Central Asian city of Samarkand was fighting the Chinese and captured a number of prisoners, two of whom were papermakers who were released in exchange for teaching the Arabs how to make paper. The Arabs wasted no time in improving papermaking techniques - they were probably the first to make paper from linen - and they spread the techniques throughout the Middle East and into Spain.

Europe, however, didn't start papermaking until several centuries after the Arabs began making paper. The Christians who took over the Arab paper mills after driving the Moors from Spain were far less skillful and made inferior papers. And although trading cities such as Venice imported paper from the East and some mills in Italy produced outstanding rag papers, the rest of Europe was slow to embrace the new technology.

ENTER GUTENBERG
For these reasons, when Gutenberg produced his first Bible around 1456, Europe was still predominantly using parchment and vellum for printing, rather than paper. Parchment is the skin of a sheep or goat that's been prepared for writing; vellum is a fine parchment made from the skins of calves, lambs or kids.
Gutenberg printed several copies of his Bible on parchment; to print just one, he had to use the skins of 300 sheep. Now with that kind of resource demand, obviously there weren't enough goats and sheep and calves in Europe to allow the mass production of books. So here was this grand new technology - the printing press - and no way to realize its potential, until entrepreneurs saved the day by improving and expanding the technology of making paper from linen rags. At first, paper was called "cloth parchment."

PAPER BRINGS PROFOUND CHANGES
Because we live in a world that paper and the printing press helped to create, it's difficult today to imagine just how much the European world was transformed by the development of paper to work the printing press.

A bookseller in the Middle Ages seldom had many ready-made books in his shop. If you were one of the fortunate few who could read, you most likely would go in and order a book to be copied down for you and pick it up several months later; or, if you were very ambitious, you would simply borrow the first few pages of the book, take them home and copy them down yourself. Then you'd come back and borrow the next few pages.

Imagine the confusion and disbelief when someone appeared with many copies of the same book. There's a story, perhaps apocryphal, about Gutenberg's financial partner - when he offered 20 identical copies of the Bible to a bookseller in Paris, he was quickly forced to flee for his life. People were certain that the only explanation for this bizarre occurrence was that he was in league with the Devil.

The lower cost of printing books on paper, and their subsequent availability, stimulated the foundation of new schools and universities. Because books were now more numerous, educational opportunities that were once restricted to the nobility and upper classes became more available to other classes in society, with dramatic increases in levels of education and literacy.

When you change from an oral culture, where everything is communicated in stories and the spoken word, to a literate culture, where people get their information by reading, you change even such fundamentals as the process of thinking. Suddenly people don't have to carry all their knowledge in their heads. They don't have to develop elaborate ways of memorizing. They start to think in a more linear fashion because now they can work out on paper the complicated thought progressions that they hadn't been able to do in their heads.

The art world was also transformed by improvements in papermaking. Previously, artists had to practice their techniques and develop their drawing abilities on canvasses that they painted over and over again, so most paintings were actually lost - hidden under layers and layers of new paint. When paper became available as a cheap type of "canvas," artists could go wild practicing their sketching, and now these sketches could be saved. For the first time, drawing became an important art form in itself.

THE GROWTH OF NEWSPAPERS IN THE U.S.
As time went on, paper came into wider and wider use. The first paper mill in the United States was established in 1690 in Philadelphia, and it was a recycled paper mill using rags to manufacture paper.

Newspapers started appearing in the late 1600s and early 1700s. Newspapers, and the increased communication they offered, began to affect the conduct of government and commerce. Newspapers played an important role in spreading political information in the pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary period, not to mention during the formative period of our nation's institutional and industrial history.

Increased demand stretched the supply of rags to the limit until the shortage became so acute that there were actually "rag wars" during the mid-1700s. Nations passed laws forbidding rags to be taken out of the country - so, of course, rag smuggling became a lucrative profession. England even decreed that the dead could be buried only in wool; this was probably a move on the part of the wool manufacturers to protect their weakening industry, but it also served to save cotton and linen rags for papermaking.

Throughout the eighteenth century, there was an intense search in Europe and the U.S. for a new fiber source of paper. Contests were held, universities offered prizes, and inventors and laboratories worked feverishly to come up with a new source for paper. Inventors would often print a book on their newly-invented paper that described how the paper was made. And so we ended up with books printed on paper made from asbestos, straw, swamp grass, marsh mallow, and esparto dune grass from certain beaches in Spain.

The first patent for a paper using deinked waste paper as part of its fiber source was issued in 1800 in London. It was not until the 1840s that the initial development of the papermaking machine in England and experiments in groundwood pulping in Germany and Nova Scotia enabled the commercial production of paper. The first groundwood pulp mill in the United States was established in 1867 in Massachusetts. Experiments in chemical processes for preparing wood for papermaking took place during the 1850s and 1860s in Europe and America; commercial production of wood pulp by the sulphite process was achieved by 1887 in Ontario.

INCREASED USE OF VIRGIN RESOURCES
Imagine how people saw the vast natural resources in the United States in the mid-1800s. Seemingly endless forests stretched forever. Trees grew everywhere, so a mill could be located just about anywhere as long as it was near a water source. Trees could be harvested any time of the year, so the mills didn't go through seasonal periods of surpluses and shortages as they did with other fiber sources. Trees could be cut as they were needed, unlike fibers like straw which had to be stored in large volumes and which could then spoil. With this new wood pulping technology, the United States must have appeared to be a papermaker's version of nirvana.
This breakthrough in papermaking technology fueled a huge expansion in business that eventually led to the development of the modern corporation, which was unable to function without tremendous supplies of paper. The paper industry in the 1850s created changes so far-reaching that it was one of the transformative factors in the development of the United States. Not the least revolutionary change was the astounding drop in newsprint prices that advances in papermaking technology afforded - newsprint prices that were 28 cents per pound in 1864 had plunged to two cents or less per pound by 1897.

Wood's position as America's paper source was solidified at the turn of the century when federal and state governments enacted laws to spur industrial development. Companies were granted tax credits for resource depletion, and virgin resource industries were granted favorable freight rates. These incentives were successful in influencing the types and structure of investments and industries that were established; many of these incentives are still in effect.

CONCLUSION
Paper was first developed by Ts'ai Lun from recycled materials - from rags, fishing nets, hemp and China grass. It wasn't until a little more than a hundred years ago that paper began to be made from trees, and then it was because quantity, not quality, required alternative fiber sources.

We live in a very different world today. Today we have water shortages - especially in the West. We suffer from air pollution, energy crises, depletion of natural resources.

Perhaps the profligate use of natural resources made sense at the dawn of the 20th century, when developing the nation was a national goal. Perhaps it was reasonable in the mid-1800s to see trees as an unlimited fiber source, when the population was much smaller, there were fewer businesses, and paper was relatively limited in use. But those conditions clearly do not apply now.

Fortunately, we have an alternative. Recycled paper saves enormous amounts of water and energy over virgin papermaking processes. It produces far less pollution. It saves trees. It cuts down on our solid waste. It's a far cleaner, less toxic manufacturing process. And it allows us to stop trashing resources and start treating our trash as a valuable resource. There are also increasing numbers of papers being made from annual crops or agricultural residues, bypassing the need to cut forests for paper altogether.

We are again at a point of crisis. This time it is environmental. And again, it is paper that can lead us out of it. Papermaking technology has changed the development of society many times in the past. It can - and should - do it again now.
________________________________________
This article, adapted from a 1989 speech given by Susan Kinsella at an environmental paper seminar at the National Press Building in Washington, DC, was first published in Resource Recycling, June 1990. Dr. Thomas Kinsella, Associate Professor of British Literature at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and a specialist in antique bookbindings, provided invaluable assistance with historical references and perspectives.


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