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A New Source of Paper Fiber
| Article
# : |
14287 |
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Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
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| Issue
Date : |
7 / 1988 |
2,842 Words |
| Author
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Dean H. Mayberry
Dean H. Mayberry is a free-lance journalist living in East
Peoria, Illinois. |
Early in the burgeoning of the personal computer industry, forecasters predicted that the computer would lessen the demand for paper and paper products. Today we can see that computers, far from decreasing the need for paper, have actually increased the need, due to the ease with which reports, advertising, and mass mailings are generated by today's computer services.
Meanwhile the supply of paper pulp has failed to keep up with demand. Newspapers in the United States used 12 to 13 million tons of newsprint last year and imported almost 60 percent of it--at a cost of $4 billion. By the year 2000, the use of newsprint is expected to reach more than 15 million tons. Shortages and higher prices are expected next year and into the 1990s. Can anything stem the voracious desire of modern civilization to chew up trees for conversion into paper?
Enter kenaf. This nonwoody annual plant can grow from seedling to a mature 20 feet in 120 days. Reviewing the research that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) had sponsored, Marvin O. Bagby, research leader in USDA Agricultural Research Service, concluded in 1977, "Kenaf is a practical fiber resource ready for exploitation by the world's pulp and fiber industry." Planning renewed public-private research in December 1987, Daniel E. Kugler, program manager at the USDA Cooperative States Research Service, said industry planners must "prepare for the possibility that kenaf will become a million-acre crop over the next decade or two."
Paper Quality
To decide whether any other plant can replace or assist wood pulp in the paper industry, we need to consider what qualities make good paper. Although different kinds of paper are manufactured for many different uses, all can be evaluated based on their prime ingredient: cellulose fiber.
Cellulose is the structural material that provides support for most kinds of plants. Each kind of plant has fiber of different characteristics. Most paper today is made of the soft wood of evergreen trees, which has long cellulose fibers (2-4 millimeters). Some papers are made from the wood of deciduous trees, which has shorter fibers (0.5-1.5 millimeters). Long fibers increase a paper's tear resistance, while short fibers make paper flexible and smooth. If fibers are too long, they tend to tangle and interfere with paper sheet formation.
Before 1800
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