Paper: From Wood to White
Trees are the inevitable resource used in the production of paper. A lumber company chops down the trees and grooms the trunks. The logs are then shipped off to a paper making company. Once the company obtains the logs, the first step is to convert the wood to pulp. Now, there is two main ways this can be done. The most common is chemical pulping the other is mechanical pulping. Once you have the pulp, the rest of process is simple bleaching, pressing, cutting, and packaging.
Chemical pulping can be achieved in many different ways. The Kraft process is the standard these days apposed to the sulfite process, which is outdated. The Kraft process breaks down the wood into a slurry of fibers which can be used in the final paper making processes. Here is a quote that explains the process further:
"The process entails treatment of wood chips with a mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide, known as white liquor, that break the bonds that link lignin to the cellulose." (Wikipedia)
Mechanical Pulping is process that creates a substance know as groundwood. The process is rather simple. First the wood is thrown into a chipper where it is then sent to a washer. Once the wood chips are clean there are bleached, beaten, and then sent to a piece of machinery called the Jordan refiner. After coming out of the Jordan refiner the wood is in the same slurry of fibbers as in chemical pulping. From here, the fibers are pressed and packaged.
Making paper has many different technique. These are the just the two most common forms!
