Introduction. Recovered Paper and Recycled Fibers

III

Recovered Paper and Recycled Fibers

Hans-Joachim Putz

Handbook of Pulp. Edited by Herbert Sixta

Copyright © 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim

ISBN: 3-527-30999-3

©2006 WILEY-VCHVerlag GmbH&Co.

Introduction

During the era before the introduction of industrialized paper production 200

years ago, the most common fiber furnish was secondary fibers recovered from

used textiles. These were rags based on hemp, linen, and cotton. Only after the

invention of mechanical woodpulp in 1843 and chemical woodpulp during the

second half of the nineteenth century was paper production no longer as reliant

on recycled material as in the previous 2000 years.

Before industrialized paper production and the invention of the paper machine

in 1799, stationery or writing paper made from rags was recycled to produce lowgrade

board. As early as 1774, Claproth in Gottingen, Germany, improved the processing

of used, hand-made writing papers. His process removed optically disturbing

inks or printing ink. Today, we call this method “deinking”.

With growing industrialization and gross national product, the global paper production

increased significantly from almost 44 million tons in 1950 to 339 million

tons in 2003. The data in Tab. 1.1 indicate that between 1960 and 2000, for a doubling

of the paper production worldwide, in the CEPI countries (all EU countries

plus Czech Republic, Hungary, Norway, Slovak Republic, and Switzerland) or in

Germany, an approximate period of 20 years was necessary, whereas between

1950 and 1960 only a 10-year period was required for the first doubling of paper

production. In all of these time periods no doubling appeared in the USA where,

Tab. 1.1 Development of paper production between 1950 and 2003, in million tons [1–6].