Paper can be made from various raw materials, including grass, straw, wood, and by-products of sugar processing. The length of cellulose fibers in the material determines the strength of the paper. The raw material is reduced in size and exposed to water or chemicals to create a fibrous pulp. Inks and dyes are removed before the pulp is applied to porous surfaces and dried to form paper. Paper manufacturing plants produce over 1,000 tons of pulp per day, with one-third of feedstock being waste paper products. The craft of papermaking originated in China in the 1st century AD and spread throughout Asia and Europe. Wood pulp was not used until the mid-19th century.
Many raw materials make up the ingredients for papermaking, and common papermaking materials include grass, straw, and wood. The by-product pulp of sugar beets and sugar cane can also be used. In an effort to reduce waste, some paper manufacturers use paper and fabric products. The fibers of these raw materials are held together with a binder to make paper. Paper manufacturers can obtain paper raw materials from any number of places, including lumber yards, sugar processing plants, and companies that collect paper and textiles for recycling.
The length of the cellulose fibers in the plant material determines the type of paper that can be made from that fiber. Paper feedstocks that have long fibers generally produce a stronger, thicker product. Wood from tapered trees, including fir, pine, and spruce, typically have these long fibers. Old magazines, newspapers and other previously used paper products generally have shorter fibers.
When the raw material consists of wood, the bark must be removed and the size of the timber reduced. Machines typically chip or grind the wood into smaller particles. Once reduced to a workable product, the material is ground against a rotating stone and exposed to water. Manufacturers may also use a chemical process in which a sulfur solution dissolves the wood into a fibrous pulp. The plant or textile materials are then fired.
In addition to reducing the size of textile or waste paper products by shredding or other mechanical means, manufacturers using raw paper materials generally remove any dyes and inks in the material. Factories often accomplish this task by washing and rinsing the shards. Manufacturers sometimes expose the pulp solution to a gentle bleaching process, converting the product to the desired color. Then they spray or otherwise apply the pulp in thin layers on porous surfaces. Subjected to air and pressure, the pulp dries, forming paper.
Paper manufacturing plants typically produce over 1,000 tons of pulp per day. Producing approximately one ton of pulpwood requires 10 to 17 trees. This amount of pulp creates enough paper to print approximately 7,000 newspapers. About one-third of paper feedstock in the United States is waste paper products.
The Chinese, in the 1st century AD, were the first to use raw materials for paper. The craft eventually spread throughout Asia and Egypt, where bark, hemp, and rags served as raw materials. The first paper mills developed in Spain around the mid-12th century and the paper-making process spread throughout Europe around the 15th century. However, the milling of wood into a pulp to make paper only began in the mid-19th century.
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