1. PAPERMAKING

2. Where does paper come from?
• We get paper from trees, more precisely from its wood.
• All the wood material in a tree is formed of fibres, tiny
cellulose strands stuck together with a natural adhesive
material called lignin. It's by separating and
reorganizing those fibers that we make paper.
• So, fibres are the basic elements to produce paper.
• The type of paper we get depends on the type of pulp we
obtain from those fibres .
• Almost all of the paper you use today is made of wood
fibres. Some special papers, like stationery and money,
are made from linen, cotton, or other plants. Other
papers contain a combination of cellulose fibres and
synthetics such as latex.

3. What trees are used to produce paper?
• Foresters divide trees into two categories:
hardwood and softwood species.
• Hardwood trees such as oaks and maples have
wood with very short fibres. Paper made from
these species is weaker but its surface is
smoother, and therefore better to write and
print on.
• Softwood trees such as pine and spruce have
wood with long fibers, and paper made from this
type of wood is much stronger. But the finish is
rougher, and that's not as good for writing,
printing and many other uses.
• We can mix fibre from hardwoods and
softwoods into a single paper, getting just the
combination we want.
 On average it takes 25 trees to
produce 1 ton of paper

4. What are the first steps?
• First, workers cut trees, mostly from special
tree-growing areas. After the trees are
removed, more trees are planted in their
place.
• The logs are transported to the paper
company where they get a bath to clean
the dirt and other impurities before being
turned into small chips of wood.
• The chips are then sorted
according to size, and moved to
the pulping operation, where they
will be turned into pulp for making
paper.

5. How do we get the pulp?
• In the pulping stage, the individual wood fibres must be separated.
We choose the pulping techniques according to the paper we want.
• The finished pulp looks like a mushy, watery solution.
Then, it's time to make paper out of the pulp. That mainly means
getting the water out, since this pulp is about 99% water.
• The first area in which this takes place is called the wet end of the
papermaking machine.

6. The Mechanical Process
• First, papermakers spray the stock onto a long, wide screen, called a wire.
• Immediately, water begins to drain out the bottom of the wire. This water is
collected so that it can be reused over and over again.
• Meanwhile, the pulp fibres are caught and begin to bond together in a very thin
mat.
• The fibre mat remaining on the wire is then squeezed between felt-covered
press rollers to absorb more of the water.
• Even when this wet end work is over, the pulpy stuff is still about 60% water.
• In the dry end, huge metal
cylinders are heated by filling them
with steam. Heating and drying the
wet sheet seals the fibres closer
and closer together, turning them
gradually from pulp into paper.

7. The Whole Process: a summary

8. Finishing Processes
• The characteristics, appearance and
properties of paper and board depend
on their final treatments.
• Coated paper
Coating is a process to improve
brightness or printing properties by
applying china clay, pigment or other
products.
• Uncoated paper
Uncoated paper is typically used for
letterheads, copy paper, or printing
paper.

9. How do we recycle paper?
• Sorting
Successful recycling requires clean recovered
paper, so you must keep your paper free from
contaminants, such as food, plastic, metal, and
other trash, which make paper difficult to
recycle.
• Contaminated paper which cannot be recycled
must be composted, burned for energy, or land
filled.
• Collection and Transportation
You may take your sorted paper to a local
recycling center or recycling bin.
• At the recycling center, the collected paper is
wrapped in tight bales and transported to a
paper mill, where it will be recycled into new
paper.

10. Why is it important to recycle paper?
BEFORE
NOW
• If we recycle paper, we will cut down a smaller quantity of trees and the
disposal of paper is also reduced (green scheme)

11. OUR MESSAGE
Catarina and Diogo from Portugal
May 2012