What Is Paper?

True paper is characterized as thin sheets made from fiber that has been macerated until each
individual filament is a separate unit. Medieval paper was made of diluted cotton, linen fiber.
(Hunter 1943, 117) The fibers are then intermixed with water and by the use of a sieve-like
screen, the fibers are lifted from the water leaving a sheet of matted fiber on the screen. The thin
layer of intertwined fiber is paper.
(Hunter 1943, 5)
Many people include think of papyrus and rice paper as paper. They are not. Papyrus is not made
from macerated fiber so, it is not true paper. Papyrus is made from a grasslike aquatic plant in the
sedge family called Cyperus papyrus. It has woody, bluntly triangular stems that are cut or sliced
end to end with metal knife. Then these thin "boards" are pasted together much like laminated
wood. (http://education.yahoo.com/search/be?lb=t&p=url%3Ap/papyrus )
Rice paper is not paper. It is made from strips of the cut spirally from the pith of the rice paper
tree, a small Asiatic tree or shrub, Tetrapanax papyriferum, that is widely cultivated in China and
Japan. The pith is cut into a thin layer of ivory-like texture by means of a sharp knife. (American
Paper and Pulp Association, 1965, 17). Parchment and vellum are also not paper. They are made
from the skins of animals (Hunter 1943,6)

Where It Began.
Paper as we know it, was invented in China, AD 105, by the Chinese Eunuch Ts'ai Lun. It was,
thin, feted, formed, flat made in porous molds from macerated vegetable fiber. (Hunter 1943,4)
Before the 3rd century AD, the first paper was made of disintegrating cloth- bark of trees and
vegetation such as mulberry, hemp, china grass (Hunter 1943,56)Paper was used in China from
AD 868, for engraving religious pictures and reached its height of in 1634 with the wooden
block prints made popular by Sung Ying-hsing.
The technology of making paper moved from China to Japan and then to Korea in AD 610 where
it was commonly made from mulberry bark and Gampi. Later it was made from bamboo and rice
straw. (Hunter 1943,59)
Marco Polo gave one of the first descriptions of Chinese papermaking in his 'Milione'. He
mentions that the Chinese emperors jealously guard the secrets of papermaking and that fine
paper is manufactured from vegetable fiber: rice or tea straw, bamboo canes and hemp rag cloth.
Chinese paper made from bark and the fibers of rags and hemp may have traveled on caravans
following the Gobi Desert, the Desert of Takla Makan and the Tarim Valley and finally arrived
in Samarkan. But papermaking was a closely guarded secret and it was not actually made there
until after 751 AD. In 751 the Chinese lost a battle in Turkistan on the banks of the Tharaz River.
It was recorded that among the Chinese prisoners were skilled papermakers. The craftsmen
began making paper in Samarkan. (Hunter 1943,60)
Samarkan was a good place to make paper because it had an abundant supply of hemp and flax
and pure water. (Hunter 1943,61)
It has been conjectured that the first paper mill was established in Baghdad (http://www.al-
bab.com/arab/literature/lit.htm)
Papermaking then spread to Damascus and to Egypt and Morocco. It took 500 years to find its
way to Europe. (Hunter 1943, 115)By the end of the 10th century, paper had replaced parchment
and papyrus in the Arab world. ( http://www.al-bab.com/arab/literature/lit.htm)
The is a comparatively large number of early Arabic manuscripts. on paper dating from the 9th
century. The material of the Arab paper was apparently substantially linen. It seems that the
Arabs, and the skilled Persian workmen whom they employed, at once resorted to flax, which
grows abundantly in Khorasan, as their principal material, afterwards also making use of rags,
supplemented, as the demand grew, with any vegetable fibre that would serve; cotton, if used at
all, was used very sparingly. Paper of Oriental manufacture in the Middle Ages can be
distinguished by its stout substance and glossy surface, and was devoid of water-marks.
(Stutermeister 1954, 11)Paper In Europe
The first mention of rag-paper occurs in the tract of Peter, abbot of Cluny (A.D. 1122 - 1150),
adversus ludaeos, cap. 5. (http://www.manufactura.cz/paper.htm)s
Several manuscripts survive that were written in European, countries on Oriental paper or paper
made in the Oriental fashion. The oldest recorded document on paper was a deed of King Roger
of Sicily, of the year 1102; and there are others of Sicilian kings in the 12th century. A notarial
register on paper, at Geneva, dates, from 1154. The oldest known imperial deed on the same
material is a charter of Frederick II to the nuns of Goess in Styria, of the year 1228, now at
Vienna. In 1231, Frederick II forbade further use of paper for public documents; which were in
future to be inscribed on vellum. In Venice the Liber plegiorum, the entries in which begin with
the year 1223, is made of rough paper; as are the registers of the Council of Ten, beginning in
1325; and the register of the emperor Henry VII. (1308--1313) preserved in Turin. In the British
Museum there is an older example in a manuscript. (Arundel 268) which contains some
astronomical treatises written on an excellent paper in an Italian hand from the first half of the
13th century. In the public Record Office there is a letter on paper from Raymond, son of
Raymond, Duke of Narbonne and count of Toulouse, to Henry III of England, written during the
years 1216-1222. The letters addressed from Castile to Edward I., in1279 and following years
(Pauli in Bericht, Berl. Akad., I854), are instances of Spanish made paper. (Stutermeister 1954,
11)
There is a record of paper being used by the Empress Irene in Greece at the end of the 13th
century, but with one doubtful exception, there are no extant Greek manuscripts on paper before
the middle of the 13th century. http://www.manufactura.cz/paper.htmPapermaking Comes To
Europe
The Muslim conquest of Spain brought papermaking into Europe. The English word "ream"
(meaning 500 sheets) is derived through Spanish and French from the Arabic word rizmah that
translates as "a bundle". ( http://www.al-bab.com/arab/literature/lit.htm)
Both Spain and Italy claim to be the first to manufacture paper in Europe. (Hunter 1943, 115)
One of the first paper mills in Europe was in Xativa (now Jativa or St. Felipe de Javita in the
ancient city of Valencia and it can be dated to AD 1151. (Hunter 1943, 153) Some scholars claim
that the Arabs built the Xativa mill in approximately AD 1009. Papermaking continued under
Moorish rule until 1244 when the moors were expelled. Paper making then began to gradually
spread across Christian Europe. (http://www.mead.com/ml/docs/facts/history.html)
The first wire mold for making paper is identified in Spain dating to 1150. Bamboo molds were
common in China, but it was not readily available in Europe.
The bamboo allowed the mold to be flexible, but the European rigid wire mold, was better suited
to the formation of rag fiber. Europeans also invented the Fence or Deckle, which keeps the
paper within bonds (Hunter 1943, 115).
The earliest paper was called 'cloth parchment', but it often contained wood and straw in addition
to cloth. All these raw materials were beaten to a fine pulp and mixed with water. Sheets of paper
were then pressed out, dried and hardened.
(http://www.dartfordarchive.org.uk/technology/paper.shtml)

The demand for paper was slight in the 1st Century Europe (Hunter 1943, 153) . Paper cost more
than vellum, it was more fragile than parchment and it was associated with Jews and Arabs who
were not trusted. (Hunter 1943, 61) In fact, The Church in Western Europe initially banned the
use of paper calling it a 'pagan art' believing that animal parchment was the only thing 'holy'
enough to carry the Sacred Word. (http://members.aol.com/Ppreble2/history2.html)
It was only with the advent of printing in the middle of the 15th Century that the demand became
greater. (Hunter 1943, 153)The first representation of the printing process is the 1568 wood print
Der Papierer by Jost Amman in the Little Book of trades . (Hunter 1943, 5)

Papiermühle mit Wasserradantrieb by Jost Amman: Stände und Handwerker, Frankfurt a.M.
1568
(http://www-gewi.kfunigraz.ac.at/deuph/lehrveranst/bild4.html)

Paper Making in Italy

In Italy the first great center of the paper-making industry was Fabriano in the marquisate of
Ancona. Mills were established in 1276, and rose to importance with the decline of the
manufacture in Spain. (http://www.manufactura.cz/paper.htm)The first official document
recording the presence of paper manufacturing in Fabriano dates to 1283, and is the deed of a
public notary recording the purchase of a house by a "carthaio" or paper maker, with another six
paper makers called as witnesses. This document clearly points to the existence of a number of
paper factories, and implies a well developed commercial activity.
Fabriano was the first manufacturing center to harness water power to drive the fibrillation
(pulping) process, previously a labor intensive manual activity.
(http://www.museodellacarta.com/ing/chiavelli.html)

In 1340 a factory was established at and Treviso ; and other factories were quickly established in
the territories of Florence, Bologna, Parma, Milan, Venice. The factories of northern Italy
supplied southern Germany with paper as late as the 15th century. The earliest German factories
are said to have been set up between Cologne and Mainz, and in Mainz itself about 1320. Ulman
Stromer established a mill in 1390 at Nuremberg, with the aid of Italian workmen. Ratisbon and
Augsburg were other sites of early manufacture. Western Germany, the Netherlands and
England, are said to have obtained paper at first from France and Burgundy then through the
markets of Bruges, Antwerp and Cologne.
The first paper-mills in France were established in 1189, in the district of Hérault. By the second
half of the 14th Century, the use of paper for all literary purposes had become established in all
of Western Europe. In the course of the 15th century vellum was gradually superseded by paper.
Some later manuscripts would use a mixture of vellum and paper. usually a vellum sheet would
form the outer, or the outer and inner, leaves of a quire while the rest were paper.
(Stutermeister 1954, 11)Paper Making In Italy
Papermaking in Italy is dominated by the historic and powerful feudal family, Fabriano. The
Council Statute of 1436 prohibited anyone within a radius of 50 miles from Fabriano buildings
from manufacturing paper or teaching paper making secrets to those not residing within the
Council territory, pending a fine of 50 ducats.
A later prohibition has even stiffer penalties. Transgressors were considered "rebels" and thereby
banned from the city with consequent capital confiscation. The extent of the power of the local
tribunal's protection of the Fabriano papermakers is highlighted in a 1445 document. Council
priors, concerned that if maestro Piero di Stefano, the only artisan who practiced the "modular"
art in the Marche province died his craft would die with him. The Council demanded the old
maestro to teach the craft to his son or any apprentice in his workshop and not to construct or
repair screens used outside the district of Fabriano or he would be penalized with a fine of 100
ducats.
Modular craftsman specialized in making the wooden screens – known as "modularo" . The
screen or module – is made-up of a wooden framework, on which a dense wire mesh is placed
and also a movable wooden frame or deckle. It must be constructed so that it will support the
weight of the paste and the water without deforming the paper.
(http://www.museodellacarta.com/ing/chiavelli.html)Paper Making In England
There is evidence that at the beginning of the14th century paper was used for registers and
accounts. The British Museum has a register (Add. 31, 223 ), of the hustings court of Lyme
Regis, the entries in which begin in the year 1309. The paper, of a rough manufacture, is similar
to the kind that was used in Spain. The Records of Merton College, Oxford, show that paper was
purchased "pro registro" in 1310.
Evidence for the history of paper-making in England is extremely scanty. The first maker whose
name is known is John Tate, who is said to have set up a mill in Hertford early in the 16th
century. (http://www.manufactura.cz/paper.htm)
Britain's first commercially successful paper-mill was established on the River Darent in
Dartford as early as 1588. This paper-mill was set up by John Spilman ( Spielman), a German
entrepreneur who became 'Goldsmyth of our Jewelles' to Elizabeth I and James I. He
manipulated the favor and patronage of successive monarchs to ensure that he had a virtual
monopoly of the paper industry. (http://www.dartfordarchive.org.uk/technology/paper.shtml)
In 1588 Spilman was granted a Crown lease of two mills in the Manor of Bignores at Dartford
(probably close to what is now Powder Mill Lane), situated on the fast flowing River Darent.
The mills appear to have been owned by Spilman earlier as he had already undertaken expensive
repairs and alterations costing an estimated £1,500. It is not clear whether John Spilman himself
knew anything about the techniques of paper-making, but he was able to finance the employment
of skilled German paper-makers at Dartford. The newly constituted paper-mill of Dartford was
the first mill in England to produce good quality white paper on a commercially viable basis. It
was a sight to behold, one of the town's earliest tourist attractions!
Spilman's Dartford mill was the subject of 352 lines of poetry written in 1588 by Thomas
Churchyard and dedicated to Sir Walter Raleigh. The acutely long-winded doggerel includes the
first description of paper-making ever to appear in print. The mill seems to have been a
prominent and impressive riverside feature:
This is so fine with workmanship set foorth
So surely built, and planted in the ground
That it doth seeme a house of some estate…
To which brave mill do thousands still repayre
So see what things are wrought, by cunning skill,'
Churchyard's poem gives some indication of the paper making process employed at Dartford : A
Paper-mill
That now neere Dartford standeth well
Where Spilman may himself and household dwell
The Mill itself is sure right rare to see
The framing is so quaint and finely done
Built of wood and hollowed trunks of trees
The Hammers thump and make so loud a noise
As fuller doth that beats his woollen cloth
In open show, then Sundry secret toyes
Make rotten rags to yield a thickened froth
There it is stamped and washed as white as snow
Then flung on frame and hanged to dry, I trow
Thus paper straight it is to write upon
As it were rubbed and smoothed with slicking stoneThe Dartford-based mill was granted
extensive monopoly powers that were often the subject of dispute. A patent dated February 1589
granted Spilman the monopoly of buying or dealing in linen rags, old fishing nets and leather
shreds '… fitt for making all sorts of white paper. Nobody else was permitted to build a paper-
mill without Spilman's consent. All persons were forbidden to make any paper in any mills'…
alreadye made erected or used for broune paper mills' save with the license and assent of
Spilman.
In July 1597 Spilman was granted a new patent for 14 years which confirmed his monopoly and
granted him and his deputies power to search any premises where they suspected rags or paper
were being hidden. Spilman's water-tight monopoly was designed to stop other mills attempting
to make highly-prized white paper.
It is clear that there was some diversification of product at a later date, for in 1617 Spilman was
making a new and pleasing kind of playing card.
John Spilman was knighted by James I at Dartford. The knighthood was probably granted as
much for his activities as court goldsmith and jeweler as for his contribution towards the
evolution and development of England's paper industry.
Sir John died in 1626 and is commemorated in Holy Trinity Church with a tomb, which
incorporates colored effigies of himself and his first wife Elizabeth Mengel, daughter of a
Nuremberg merchant. She died in 1607 at the age of 55. He had several children by his second
wife Katherine who survived until about 1644. On the left hand side of the Spilman tomb is a
commemorative tablet erected by the Legal Society of Paper-Makers, who in 1858 paid £58
towards the tomb's restoration.
Some 37 paper mills existed in England between 1588 and 1650, most were involved with the
production of inferior quality brown paper. The trend towards the production of white paper
came later after Spilman's monopoly was broken.
(http://www.dartfordarchive.org.uk/technology/paper.shtml)How Is Paper Manufactured?
Papermaking required a long and often expensive apprenticeship. Workers were frequently
sworn to secrecy because no craftsman wished to share knowledge with competitors. Thirteenth
century, paper was produced almost entirely from linen and cotton rags pulped in water
(http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/map7.htm).
The pulped fibers were thoroughly mixed in a deep vat, the n the vatman would dip a wire mesh
tray into the mixture and a sufficient amount lifted out to yield the required thickness of paper. A
wooden frame called a deckle fitted over the tray to form a raised edge and prevented the watery
pulp from escaping. Pulp flowing between the frame and the deckle produced an irregular
feathery edge around the paper hence the term "deckle-edged" paper.
(http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/map7.htm) Most paper makers had 2 molds and one deckle (Hunter
1943, 225).
As soon as possible the newly formed sheet of paper was removed from the tray and placed
between two pieces of felt. The paper-and-felt "sandwiches" were then pressed to remove surplus
water and the paper hung to dry. (http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/map7.htm)It was typical in Europe that
one a vat man would form the sheets, and a coucher would lay them down (Hunter 1943, 225).

What Colors Did Paper Come In?

What About Adding Things To Paper?
White paper was the most desired of medieval papers. The poorer grades were made of old and
discarded materials and yielded a light coffee color to light Grey.
Bleaching was not known unto the early 19th century (Hunter 1943, 225) so papermakers had to
depend on using only fine fibers for the pulp. The best fabric to be used in period for paper was
the linen of the whitest kind. The cotton and linen of the period were woven by hand and were
free of chemicals and bleaching. (Hunter 1943, 154) Most English paper is a coarse and gray
color until the late 17th century. In France a bluing was added to try to correct the muddy color.
Paper making in the winter was difficult because the water was hard to clarify, so it was muddy.
The finest paper was free of inclusions. What plagues the modern handmaker of paper plagued
the medieval papermaker.
Keeping the paper free of inclusions and specks has always been a challenge to the
papermaker(Hunter 1943, 227). The hairs of vat man or coucher are often trapped in the paper
during the couching process.
Other inclusions such as insects and leaves become trapped in the freshly molded paper. The
Robert C. Williams American Museum of Papermaking located at the Institute of Paper Science
and Technology in Atlanta, Georgia has a 15th century piece of paper with a mosquito embedded
in the paper. (Hunter 1943, 226)
'Papermarker's tears' are blemishes caused by water being dripped on the freshly formed moist
paper which causes a thin spot. (Hunter 1943, 225)
Blotting paper is first mentioned in the year 1465. It was a coarse, gray, unsized paper, fragments
of which have been found among the leaves of 15th-century accounts, where it had been left
after being used for blotting. Blotting is mentioned in W. Horman's Vulgaria, 1519 (p. 8o b) :
Blottyng papyr serveth to drye weete wryttynge, lest there be made blottis or blurris
Brown paper appears in 1570-1571, and was sold in bundles at 2s. to 2s. 4d.
(http://www.manufactura.cz/paper.htm)

What Is A Watermark?
Watermarks are marks made from wires soldered to the surface of the wire mesh of the paper
mould. The soldered mark is elevated above the surface and during paper making causes
thinning of the layer of pulp, whereby the paper becomes transparent against the light. A water
mark (le filigrán, wasserzeichen) then becomes visible in the structure of the paper.
(http://www.manufactura.cz/paper.htm) The twisted forms were held in place by thread like
wires stitched back and forth binding the marks to the "laid and chain" wires. On old paper, the
sewing lines can be easily detected since the wires used for securing the design and the design
were made from the same gauge of wire. (Hunter 1943, 264).

Watermarks first appear 1282 (Bayley 1902, 1) and by the

end of the 1200's the craftsmen active in Fabriano were in the habit of countersigning their
production with watermarks. (http://www.museodellacarta.com/ing/cartamano.html)
The creation of the mark on the wire netting was sometimes entrusted to goldsmiths, in Cheb for
instance in 1540, who were more skilled in drawing and forming the wires then the mould
maker. (http://www.manufactura.cz/paper.htm) The simplicity of watermarks in the13th century
is striking, partly due to the clumsy wire. The earliest designs were crosses, ovals, areolas, knots,
triangles, 3 hills, pommee crosses (Greek crosses with balls at the ends of the crossbars) (Hunter
1943, 268) . By the 14-15th century, the wire was thinner so the designs became more detailed
(Hunter 1943, 265).

The designs had multiplied into thousands of motifs representing every phase of nature and
human endeavor. By the time that printing from moveable types is developed in 1450, the
tradition of watermarking paper is already two centuries old (Hunter 1943, 261)
The term water mark is fairly modern. The first use in English is beginning of 18th Century. In
German the word Wasserzeichen was used in the first part of 19th century, Filigrane in French
and Papiermerken in Dutch
(Hunter 1943, 263).

Few watermarks bear dates and then the dates cannot be trusted since molds were used for many
years (Hunter 1943, 264), and there is evidence that unscrupulous manufactures also faked the
watermarks of prominent papermakers (Hunter 1943, 265).The whole question of why
papermakers used watermarks is interesting. Several theories have been proposed.
Identification Marks- like Trademarks of today.
This seems unlikely since there were so many more watermarks than papermakers. (Hunter
1943, 220-240)
Some 15th century works contain a dozen or more different watermark in the same book. It is
unlikely that these represent different mills. However, the lawyer Bartola de Sassoferrato De
insignis et armis dating between 1340 and 1350, mentions that a paper maker can be prohibited
from using the mark of a different producer, and also mentions the falsification of marks.
(http://www.manufactura.cz/paper.htm)

1221 - one of the oldest known water marks with the name of the paper-maker (Briquet, Les
Filigranes)

2. To indicates size. This is silly since size was not an important issue to early paper makers. In
the up to the 15-16 the Centuries paper did not differ in size, because of the limited demand for
sheets of diverse dimensions. It was only after the widespread adoption of the variable letter
printing press that paper began to be have a need for varying sizes.
(Hunter 1943, 225)3. Secret Symbols
Curiously, scholars who write about the Holy Grail, such as Margaret Starbird have turned to a
19th century Scottish scholar, Harold Bayley who theorized that watermarks were secret signs of
pre-Reformation Protestant mystic or gnostic groups sects known in France as Albigeois and
Vaudois and as Cathari or Patarini in Italy. (Bayley 1902, 5) Embossing Designs On Paper
Although there is no documented evidence that embossing (the art of producing raised portions
or patterns on the surface of metal, leather, textile fabrics, cardboard, paper and similar
substances) was done on paper, it is known that parchment was embossed in the 15th Century by
Spanish monks, nuns and novices for bookbinding and decorating holy tracts.
( http://www.parchment-craft.co.za/susan/sueparhis.htm)

Bibliography
American Paper and Pulp Association.
1965. The Dictionary of Paper, including pulp, paperboard, paper properties and related
papermaking terms. 3rd ed. New York.

Bayley, Harold
1909 (1966) The Lost Language of Symbolism, Citadel Press.

Hunter, Dard
1943 (1970) Papermaking. The History and Technique of and Ancient Craft. Dover
publications, New York
Starbird, Margaret
1993 The Woman With the Alabaster Jar : Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail , Bear & Co
Stutermeister, Edwin
1954 The Story of Papermaking. R.R. Bowker Company, New York.

Web Refernces
http://www.dartfordarchive.org.uk/technology/paper.shtml
http://36.1911encyclopedia.org/E/EM/EMBOSSING.htm
http://www.parchment-craft.co.za/susan/sueparhis.htm
http://www.manufactura.cz/paper.htm
http://www.thepaper.it/history.htm
http://www.caerleon.net/history/churchyard/
http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/map7.htm
http://www.mead.com/ml/docs/facts/history.html
http://members.aol.com/Ppreble2/history2.html
http://www.al-bab.com/arab/literature/lit.htm)
http://www.mcq.org/syrie/aac5_occident.htm)
http://education.yahoo.com/search/be?lb=t&p=url%3
http://handicraft.indiamart.com/products/paper-products/paper-
industry.html

Philippine Handmade Paper

The Philippines has no verifiable historical data on handmade paper making. But it
is believed that the craft existed as early as the Hispanic period.

In the Philippines, research on using indigenous materials for handmade paper was
started in the late 1970s by Design Center Philippines and the Forest Products
Research and Development Institute (FPRDI). In the mid-1980s FPRDI, the University
of the Philippines at Los Baños, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and
the Asian Development Bank pooled their expertise and resources to encourage
papermaking using rice straw as part of a ÒProsperity Through Rice Project.

Between 10-12 million tons of rice straw are generated in the country annually.
These wastes which oftentimes are burned or left to rot in the field have been
identified as a promising material for handmade paper. The FPRDI confirmed the
suitability of rice straw for the production of high quality paper for special purposes
e.g. art paper, greeting cards, novelty paper items, etc. Another government
agency, the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) disclosed that tobacco stalks
usually thrown away can be processed into high quality paper. The pulp yield from
tobacco which is about 65% is higher than those of rice straw, cogon grass, banana
and pineapple fiber and comparable with abaca fiber, the most commonly used
fiber for handmade paper making.

Later several bast fibers were started to be used in the paper making process. The
artistic use of bast fibers from abaca, salago, cogon and raffia made Philippine
homemade paper unique, particularly in the paper crafts, Christmas decors, gifts
and novelties. However, the paper's high cost crippled the industry because of
expensive abaca pulp, chemicals and machines and inefficient mill processes.

Philippines Paper Industry

From 1995 to 1999, Philippine homemade paper was a sunrise industry with exports
averaging 120.22 million dollars annually. Rough or chemi-mechanical processed
paper made Filipino ingenuity a byword among international buyers.

The Handmade Paper Industry is highly export-oriented as evidenced by the 96%

export share of the total sales in 1999, contributing 24% of the total handmade
paper exports of the Philippines. Handmade papers and paper products from
Philippines are been exported to the U.S., Australia, Europe, and Japan.

Today there are about more than 100 handmade paper manufacturers in
Philippines. Among the more succesful is one in Los Banos, Laguna, managed by Fe
Frialde. Frialde started in 1986 with five people working in one room.

http://handicraft.indiamart.com/products/paper-products/paper-industry.html

Paper Industry
Paper Industry is a low investment and high labor intensive industry. It uses only waste raw
materials and the durability of the paper is long with exclusive look and unique character. The
paper is available in a saga of rich varieties, designs, shapes and colors. The paper industry has
an important social role to play for the country. Use of Paper is considered as an index of cultural
growth. Key social objectives of the Government like eradicating illiteracy, making primary
education compulsory, extra cultural activities etc. are very much related to the paper industry.

In India the most popular paper industries are well established in Assam, Manipur, Arunachal
Pradesh and Nagaland. The major production area of paper are Japan, Thai, Nepal, China,
Taiwan, French, Italian and Bhutan. They are among the most popular paper industries
establishing a niche on the platform of a variety of papers.

Indian Paper Industry

The Indian handmade paper industry produces a variety of paper and paper products mainly by
using waste materials such as cotton rags, tailor cuttings, hoisery cuttings and small quantities of
waste paper. Certain materials are blended with them for mottling effects and to produce special
varieties of paper. Availability of raw materials and existing infrastructural facilities offer good
scope for development of special varieties of handmade paper in the North East. It also has an
added advantage to earn from world market.

Due to increased literacy, industrialisation, modernisation and development by 2000 AD, the per
capita consumption of paper in India may increase from the existing level of 3 kg. to 4.5 kg. The
demand for paper is expected to increase from existing 21 lakh tonnes (1991-92) to 37.9 lakh
tonnes by 2000 AD, while supply will reach only 27.7 lakh tonnes.

The handmade paper and its allied products offers a vast marketing scope in both inside and
outside the country. Imports of paper and paper products was growing over the years. However,
it has increased during 2001-02 after a fall in 2000-01. Actual import was 2.71 lakh tonnes in
1998-99, 2.02 lakh tonnes in 1999-00, 1.39 lakh tonnes in 2000-01, 1.67 lakhs tonnes in 2001-02
and 1.23 lakh tonnes upto November, 2002. About 1,40,000 tonnes of paper was exported in
2000-01 mainly to the neighbouring countries.

Indian Export Martket

From the past many years handmade paper industry in India has been exporting certain exclusive
varieties like deckle edge stationery drawing paper, mottle paper, etc. to the western countries.
Foreign buyers like USA, Germany, UK, Canada, Italy, Sweden, Australia, Singapore
and Hongkong are purchasing handmade paper from India because handmade paper production
in India by all means is low as compared to the production areas abroad. Indian handmade papers
have created a sensation in the world market. However there is growing urge to use eco-friendly
products. Different countries use these handmade paper differently. Some use it as decorative
papers, some as stationery, some as artistic paper and so on.

Japanese Paper Industry

Japan is the third largest paper and paperboard producing country. Shipment in 1999 topped 7.8
trillion yen and ranked 13th in 22 manufacturing industries. It manufactures a range of products
for sale primarily within Japan and consumes organic fibers for these products from dispersed
domestic and foreign forests, plantation and cities.

As with the modern global paper industry, the recent growth of the Japanese industry has been
characterised by cycles of capacity expansion, market collapse, excess capacity and low prices
and profits. The transnational flow of fibre through the Japanese paper industry links dispersed
economies and environments. Paper and paperboard production in 2002 was 30,690 thousand
tons, which was 1.5 times as much as recorded in 1985 and 1.1 times that of 1990.

With regard to trade, exports reached record hieghts in 1999, increasing by 30% on the year
earlier period. This was mainly due to the Asian economic recovery and a weaker domestic
market. But imports decreased by 10% despite the rise in fine papers from Indonesia and abroad.
The Japan Paper Association believed that domestic demand for paper and board will grow by
1.5% in 2000, to reach 31,467,000 tons. Later the paper production was increased and it made a
dramatic name in the paper industries spread globally.

Chinese Paper Industry

China is investing heavily in state of the art papermaking equipment and mills. They will soon
have the biggest and best machines. As the most rapidly expanding economy, they have urgent
needs for paper, towel, and tissue. In addition, since they export so many products now, they
need paper board for shipping containers and boxes.

The per capita comsumption of paper in 1995 was about 28 kgs and the paper capacity was
33,000,000 tons and alarge number of employees were engaged in the paper industry. Later
better handmade paper were made using woodfree pulp increasing the production and
consumption of paper in the country.

In China the annual yield of paper and paper board has increased by an average of 10% from
1978 to 1998 and amounts to 35 million tons in 2000.It's expected that the annual output will
reach into 45 million tons in 2005 and 60 million tons in 2010. No doubt, Chinese paper market
is very prospective.

Korean Paper Industry

Koreans have a centuries-old history of paper-making and have long enjoyed using high-quality
indigenous paper. Korea's oldest paper, called maji, was made from hemp.

The Korea Paper Manufacturers' Association released the survey result that domestic paper
producers were having an annual capacity of 8,992 million tons. Thus the domestic paper
industry has a combined production capacity close to 9 million tons, to live up to its name as one
of the ten largest global paper producers. Taking into account that current expansion and new
establishment should go into full swing from 1997, then Korea's capacity is expected to stand at
10.83 million tons a year.

Bhutan Paper Industry

Hand-made paper in Bhutan sells well on both the domestic and foreign markets. Demand from
Sweden and the United Kingdom amounts to about 30,000 sheets a year. Japan, Australia and
USA also imports a good numbe rof paper from Bhutan.

The paper and paperboard production in 1996-1998 was thousand metric ton. Paper and
paperboard production is the amount of primary paper and paperboard produced, even though a
portion of it may immediately be consumed in the production of another product. Paper and
paperboard includes newsprint, printing and writing paper, packaging paper, household and
sanitary paper, and other paper and paperboard.

Taiwan Paper Industry

Taiwan's paper and paperboard industry has grown dramatically over the past many years. In
1945, production of paper and paper products totaled 14,000 tons. In 1980s production
capabilities was rapidly expanding and in 1990s the annual industry output hovered at about 4.5
million tons. After 1990 the paper and paperboard industry in Taiwan has seen a slight annual
rise in all areas including production, exports, imports, and apparent consumption.

There is no stability in the production and consumption of paper and paper products. In 2000,
total paper and paperboard production climbed 3.3 percent to reach 4.4 million tons, but per
capita consumption fell by 0.7 percent. Later, total production in 2003 climbed 3.2 percent to
reach 4.5 million tons, yet per capita consumption increased by 5.4 percent over 2002 totals.

Taiwan's paper industry has also benefited from laws enacted in 2001 governing waste recycling.
According to the law several watse materials were recycled to make paper. The production rate
then reached 88.3 percent in 2003. Taiwan also imports wastepaper out of which approximately
35.6 percent was imported from North America and another 36.7 percent from Europe.

In 2003, the Taiwan paper industry used 1.2 million tons of virgin pulp. Of that figure, 384,000
tons of pulp was supplied domestically, whereas imports totaled 784,000 tons. Taiwan also used
4 million tons in 2003, of which 2.9 million tons were supplied domestically.

The paper and paperboard industry plays an important role in Taiwan's economy because it
employs more than 21,000 workers and generates $3 billion a year in revenues. The paper and
paperboard industry also accounts for approximately 3.9 percent of the country's GDP.

French Paper Industry

French paper industry ranks 9th in the world and fourth in Europe. It is the one of the growing
paper industry of the world and has a good name in the world market. A wide number and
variety of handmade papers are been exported and imported to France. After 1390 the paper
making tradition crossed the German border to France by a crusader while he was imprisoned by
the Arabs.

Paper consumption in France is in various forms. It is consumed in the form of graphics,

packaging, decorative etc. It is said to be around 44.8% for graphic uses, 44.3% for packaging
and conditioning, 7.0% for sanitary and domestic uses.

Key Figures of the French Paper Industry

Since 1994 the apparent consumption of paper and paperboard increased by 1.3% per year.
55.9% 55.9% of the French production of paper is exported and 59.2% is met by imports. In
2004, 2.5 million Tons of pulp were produced in France, which represents 62.6% of the total pulp
consumption of the French paper industry. In 2003, 185 million Tons of paper were produced in
the world, of which 2.5 million in France.

In 2004 the production of paper is said to be 10.2 thousand ton and the production of pulp is 2.5
thousand tons. The apparent consumtion of paper is 11.1 thousand ton. The annual turn over is
said to be 6.0 billion Euro in 2004.

Raw Materials Used

The French paper industry consumed 8.9 million Tons of wood and 5.9 million Tons of
recovered paper and cardboard in 2004. Wood used by the French paper industry is constituted
of 70% roundwood and 30% related sawmill waste. 61% comes from resinous wood and 39%
from foliate wood. 93% of the wood used is of French origin.The utilisation rate of recovered
paper and cardboard of the French paper industry attained 58.0% in 2004. This figure places this
industry at the first rank of recycling in France

Italian Paper Industry

Italy is said to be the cradle of European papermaking. Paper production and consumption in
Italy has grown leading to an increase in imports of both paper and raw materials. However, the
sector has experienced a slowdown in production and consumption since its peak growth levels
in 2000. Between 1993 and 2002, national production increased by an average of 3.3% and
reached 9.27 million tons by the latter year. By 2002, consumption had reached 10.99 million
tons of which 4.53 million tons were imports.

The main paper and paperboard products ranges from press papers from speciality papers. The
press paper represents about 42% of total paper industry revenue and 37% of total paper industry
production in terms of weight. Production of this paper requires cellulose fibers, except for
newsprint, which requires waste paper. Paper for packaging, representing 33% of total paper
industry revenue and 47% of total paper industry production in terms of weight. Paper for
hygienic, domestic and sanitary use, representing 13% of the paper national production of paper.
paper for special use represents a small percent of only 5% of the total production of paper in
Italy.
Italy suffered from scarcity of wood and hence faced a great problem in the production of paper.
According to Assocarta , the association of paper industries in Italy, the total revenue in 2002
reached € 7490 million, having declined by 6% from 2000. Due to current data, Assocarta
predicts that the paper industry will encounter a production and consumption fall in the near
future. Ongoing challenges will include low level of internal demand and increasing production
costs associated with energy expenditures.

Traditionally the Italian paper industry has not been partcularly international. However, between
1993 and 2002 the export/production level increased from 23.9% to 30.4%. Currently, European
countries represent about 70% of the international market to Italian producers. Italian industries
abroad utilize primarily local distributors.

ABACA

Abaca can dress up as a delicate handbag and add an organic touch to furniture and furnishings--
or it can do heavy labor in the marine industries as cordage and rope. The plant is astonishingly
versatile and pliable; its fibers can be shaped into a variety of products.

What is Abaca?

Abaca is a relative of the banana plant that grows in hot, humid climates. One of the main
producers of abaca is the Philippines, which is why the plant has been mistakenly called Manila
hemp. Unlike banana plants, however, which are valued for their fruit, abaca’s primary benefit is
in its long leaf sheaths, which grow to be 12 to 20 feet high. All parts of the stalk—from the
outer dark layer to the inner most layers—can be extracted, stripped and processed.

Abaca fiber has been used for centuries to make strong, breathable textiles that are comfortable
to wear and long lasting. Abaca is popular for clothing, hats, shoes and slippers. In the
Philippines there are at least 150 different traditional weaves. (Abaca Phillipines, 2006, Lalaine
Villafuerte-Abonal.) Because of the fiber’s tensile strength, abaca clothing has been
embroidered, hand-painted, dyed and beaded without any loss of luster and shape.

Abaca Plays a Key Role in Many Industries

Abaca plays a key role in more than a dozen industries, including automobile, cosmetics,
decorating, fashion, food, maritime, medical, packaging, paint, paper, pet products and even
construction because it is many times lighter than cement. Some of its valued characteristics
include its non-slipping and anti-static qualities, its fire resistance, abrasion resistance, rodent
and insect resistance and the fact that it gets stronger when it is wet. That is why, for generations,
abaca has been widely used in navies and merchant marines.

In more recent years abaca has been discovered by the cosmetics industry, where it is applauded
for its nutritious enzymes, excellent regenerative and moisturizing properties and its ability to
slow the aging process. Abaca enzymes contain a high amount of the essential fatty acids, which
have been clinically proven to have biochemical and therapeutic effects for such conditions as
eczema and psoriasis.

Read more at Suite101: Abaca Fibers are a Green Bonanza: Abaca is Stronger than
Cotton, More Elastic than Nylon
http://botany.suite101.com/article.cfm/abaca_fibers_are_a_green_bonanza#ixzz0iuQ
jdqOM

Abaca is a Green Bonanza

As an extra bonus, abaca is very earth-friendly. Abaca production treads lightly on the
environment because the plant is processed by hand, and it is biodegradable. Abaca also prevents
erosion and suppresses weeds, and it is an excellent crop rotator because it leaves the soil richer
in nitrogen deposits.

There is nothing wasted with abaca. Every part of the plant is used. The pulp finds its way into
such products as currency, tea bags, sausage casings, pill coatings, paper products, surgical
masks and insulation for computer chips.

The mineral-rich seeds are hulled for snack foods, pressed for oil and refined for body-care
products. The plant’s antimicrobial properties make it an ideal base for soaps, shampoos and
detergents.

Abaca’s corns can be used as planting materials, and the waste is used in growing mushrooms
and making handmade papers, organic fertilizer and industrial starch.

Abaca Can be Used to Make Paper

Perhaps most notable is that abaca can be an alternative to trees for making paper. Abaca’s long
outer fibers create superior quality paper for magazines and books while the short core inner
fibers are excellent for newspapers, tissue paper and packaging materials.

The plant’s high alpha cellulose properties give abaca remarkable physical strength, making it an
ideal material for producing currency.

Abaca pulp has many advantages for paper production. Unlike wood-based alternatives, abaca
paper

• resists decomposition
• does not turn yellow
• can be recycled multiple times and
• does not “eat” itself.
In addition, abaca has a faster harvesting time: about 18 months versus the 20 years it takes to
harvest trees. The yield is also greater. A single acre of abaca can produce as much paper as four
acres of trees.

Abaca is very easy to grow. It is not seasonal. It requires no plowing and only occasional
weeding, and it propagates itself through suckering. Thus, abaca has the potential to save many
forests if it is more widely used in paper production.

This possibility brings to mind a comment once made by the industrialist Henry Ford: “Why use
up the forests, which were centuries in the making, and the mines, which required ages to lay
down, if we can get the equivalent of forests and mineral products from the annual growth of the
fields?” Why, indeed, when the world has abaca.

Read more at Suite101: Abaca Fibers are a Green Bonanza: Abaca is Stronger than
Cotton, More Elastic than Nylon
http://botany.suite101.com/article.cfm/abaca_fibers_are_a_green_bonanza#ixzz0iuQ
qS9xV

Paper pollution
The production, use and of paper has a number of adverse effects on the environment which are
known collectively as paper pollution. Pulp mills contribute to air, water and land pollution.
Discarded paper is a major component of many landfill sites, accounting for about 35% by
weight of municipal solid waste (before recycling).[1]. Even paper recycling can be a source of
pollution due to the sludge produced during deinking.[2]

"People need paper products and we need sustainable, environmentally safe production."[3] The
amount of paper and paper products is enormous, so the environmental impact is also very
significant. It has been estimated that by 2020 paper mills will produce almost 500,000,000 tons
of paper and paperboard per year [4], so great efforts are needed to ensure that the environment is
protected during the production, use and recycling/disposal of this enormous volume of material.

Pulp and paper is the third largest industrial polluter to air, water, and land in both Canada and
the United States, and releases well over 100 million kg of toxic pollution each year.[5]

Worldwide, the pulp and paper industry is the fifth largest consumer of energy, accounting for
four percent of all the world's energy use. The pulp and paper industry uses more water to
produce a ton of product than any other industry.[6]

Sources of pulp mill related pollution

[edit] Chlorine and chlorine-based materials
Main article: Bleaching of wood pulp# Environmental considerations
Chlorine and compounds of chlorine are used in the bleaching of wood pulp, especially chemical
pulps produced by the kraft process or sulfite process. Plants using elemental chlorine produced
significant quantities of dioxins[7]. Dioxins are persistent organic pollutants that are generally
recognized among the most toxic human-released pollutants in existence. Elemental chlorine has
largely been replaced by chlorine dioxide and dioxin production very significantly reduced.[8][9]
The promise of complete removal of chlorine chemistry from bleaching processes to give a TCF
(totally chlorine-free) process, which peaked in the mid-1990s, did not become reality.[8] The
economic disadvantages of TCF[10], the lack of stricter government regulation and consumer
demand meant as of 2005 only 5-6% of kraft pulp is bleached without chlorine chemicals.[8] A
study based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data concluded that "Studies of
effluents from mills that use oxygen delignification and extended delignification to produce ECF
(elemental chlorine free) and TCF pulps suggest that the environmental effects of these processes
are low and similar." [11]

The used process water from a pulp mill contains a lot of organic material such as lignin and
other organic material from the trees (including chlorinated organic material) resulting in high
biological oxygen demand (BOD) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). It also contains alcohols,
and chelating agents and inorganic materials like chlorates and transition metal compounds.
Recycling the effluent (see black liquor) and burning it, using bioremediation ponds and
employing less damaging agents in the pulping and bleaching processes can help reduce water
pollution.

[edit] Sulfur, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur dioxide

Main article: Kraft process

Main article: Sulfite process

Sulfur-based compounds are used in both the kraft process and the sulfite process for making
wood pulp. Sulfur is generally recovered, with the exception of ammonia-based sulfite processes,
but some is released as sulfur dioxide during combustion of black liquor, a byproduct of the kraft
process, or "red liquor" from the sulfite process. Sulfur dioxide is of particular concern because it
is water soluble and is a major cause of acid rain. In 2006 the pulp and paper industry in Canada
released about 60,000 tonnes of sulfur oxides (SOx) into the atmosphere, accounting for just over
4% of the total SOx emission from all Canadian industries.[12]

A modern kraft pulp mill is more than self-sufficient in its electrical generation and normally
will provide a net flow of energy to the local electrical grid.[13] Additionally, bark and wood
residues are often burned in a separate power boiler to generate steam. If the harvested trees are
replanted a kraft mill can be carbon-neutral, but reforestation has been criticized for reducing
biodiversity.

Air emissions of hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl disulfide, and
other volatile sulfur compounds are the cause of the odor characteristic of pulp mills utilizing the
kraft process. Other chemicals that are released into the air and water from most paper mills
include the following:[14]

• carbon monoxide
 • ammonia
• nitrogen oxide
• mercury
• nitrates
• methanol
• benzene
• volatile organic compounds, chloroform.

[edit] Mechanical pulp mills

Main article: Pulp mill#The mill

Main article: Bleaching of wood pulp#Bleaching mechanical pulps

Wood pulp produced primarily by grinding wood is known as "mechanical pulp" and is used
mainly for newsprint. These mechanical processes use fewer chemicals than either kraft or sulfite
mills. The primary source of pollution from these mills is organic material such as resin acids
released from the wood when it is processed. Mechanical wood pulp is "brightened" as opposed
to bleached using less toxic chemicals than are needed for chemical pulps.

[edit] Paper mill pollution

It is a common misconception that all mills are "pulp and paper" mills. This is true only for
"integrated mills" that consist of both a pulp mill and a paper mill on the same site. While pulp
mills are often conspicuous by their size and odor, paper mills are often indistinguishable from
factories seen in most communities. The major effluent from a paper mill is a suspension of
paper fibers in water and it is in the mill's best interest to keep such fiber loss to a minimum
since any lost fiber translates to lower paper production.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_pollution