Recycling waste-paper

Abstract

Perhaps 80 percent of papermaking energy is expended in chemical pulping of vegetable cellulose, a natural polymer. Commercial supplies of wood, bagasse, cotton and flax are valued as renewable resources and bio-mass assets; however, few enterprises will salvage waste-paper and cardboard from their trash. A basic experiment in the Materials Lab uses simple equipment to make crude handsheets. Students learn to classify secondary fibers, identify contraries, and estimate earnings.