TURNING WASTES INTO PAPER
Paper has been described as the World’s Friend. Truly the application
is apt, when we recall the varied, and, in some instances, almost
incredible uses to which it is put, from carpets to boxes, wheels of
infinite variety to artificial flowers, table linen to boards. Little
wonder, therefore, that we have come to regard it as indispensable to
our everyday social and industrial existence. Being cheap, abundant
and easy to obtain, is it surprising that we became extravagant in its
use? We scarcely ever hesitate to bestow even a passing thought as to
where, and how, we get it. We talk glibly of “imported” without pausing
a moment to reflect upon the real significance of the expression. It
was not until war burst upon us to deliver its many disconcerting jolts
that we came to our senses, and were then compelled to acknowledge that
while paper may be a most tractable servant it is certainly a tyrannous
master.
How many people would credit the statement that paper could exercise
any influence upon the cost of living? Not one in a thousand it is safe
to hazard. But let us reflect. In the days when paper or cardboard was
forthcoming in plenty the tradesman never contemplated for a moment
the suggestion that he should be sparing in his use of the commodity,
or even saddle his customer with the cost of this indispensable
wrapping material. What if a sheet of brown paper cost a farthing--half
a cent--or paper bags could be secured for ten a penny (2 cents)?
The expense was so trivial as to be insignificant. He could readily
shoulder it without any financial detriment to himself. But when that
sheet of paper cost approximately 1³⁄₄d.--3¹⁄₂ cents--or when the bag
involved an outlay of 1¹⁄₂d.--3 cents--the tradesman, turning over in
his mind the huge quantities he would be compelled to provide during
the business of the day, regarded the whole question in a different
spirit. He declined to bear the burden, and so promptly passed it on to
the customer.
To grasp the paper situation as it affects this island kingdom we
must hark back to the glorious days preceding 1914. We made paper
upon a relatively extensive scale in our own mills, and the industry
flourished amazingly. But to what extent did indigenous materials enter
into the composition of the article? Barely 10 per cent. We preferred
to buy 90 per cent. of our raw materials from foreign mills brought
into existence for this especial purpose, and, be it remarked _en
passant_, the foreigner found it highly lucrative to trade upon our
disinclination to prepare the products ourselves.
A British firm, which had built huge mills in Scandinavia for the
preparation of the essential raw material, disposed of its financial
interests to a foreign concern. The bargain was settled for a
round £7,000,000--$35,000,000! Surely this transaction suffices to
demonstrate that there is big money to be made preparing paper pulp,
as the raw material is called, for British paper mills. The fact
that in pre-war days we imported a round 2,000,000 tons of pulp and
paper during the course of the year serves to convey some idea of the
magnitude of the industry, and the extent to which this country became
dependent upon foreign sources of supply.
One hundred years ago, or even less, the British paper-making industry
was a staple. The paper was British made from British materials. In the
light of this knowledge one may well ask why, and how, we allowed this
profitable trade to slip through our fingers? The cause was not far to
seek. Our old pugnacious friend the wasp was primarily responsible for
the passing of this British industry. He, from his paper-making prowess
in the fabrication of his wonderful nest, set certain imaginative men
thinking hard. If this humble insect could contrive such a remarkably
tough and stout paper for home-building purposes from wood surely it
was not beyond the wit of men, with the bewildering array of mechanical
and chemical handmaids at his elbow, to do likewise!
Accordingly the observant, fertile, and patient minds went to work.
Within a short time they not only succeeded in imitating the wasp,
but evolved such a simple process in the doing of it as to make an
irresistible appeal to commerce. Incidentally while this one line
of investigation, the purely mechanical, was being pursued other
equally brilliant minds were perfecting a second means of achieving
a similar end by mechanical-chemical agency. In this manner commerce
became equipped with two efficient means for the reduction of trees
into paper, and at such a low figure as to render the conventional
competitive methods impossible, at least for the cheapest grades of
paper, such as are employed for our newspapers, popular periodicals,
and low-priced books.
To reap the rich rewards which invention dangled before commerce only
two fundamental requirements had to be fulfilled. The one was ample
cheap power in close proximity to virtually inexhaustible supplies
of the essential material, namely soft woods, which constituted
the second factor. Scandinavia held unrivalled attractions in this
respect. Accordingly the princes of the paper-making industry trekked
to Norway and Sweden, to convenient points amid the endless reaches
of forest, and there planted huge mills beside waterfalls and swiftly
running rivers, which were harnessed to provide the cheap power which
hydro-electric energy offered. The outlook was additionally alluring
from the circumstance that these mills, metaphorically speaking, could
be established within the proverbial stone’s throw of the biggest and
most promising markets of the world.
So Scandinavia succeeded in building up a rich monopoly which
experienced continuous prosperity until a few years ago. Then similar
activity became manifest in certain corners of Farther Britain, notably
in Newfoundland, Eastern Canada, and British Columbia, where, owing to
the prevailing climatic conditions favouring huge reserves of suitable
forests, ribbed with abundant water power, a bold bid was made, not
only for the European but the American markets as well. For the first
time in its history the Scandinavian interests were brought full tilt
against powerful competition.
With the advent of the halfpenny newspaper, the popular periodical,
and the cheap edition of a favourite author, all of which depend upon
mammoth circulations for their financial successes, the wood-pulp
industry received a tremendous boom. In 1913 British imports from
Scandinavia aggregated 756,252 tons valued at £3,533,509--$17,667,545.
Germany, attracted by the glamour of the commercial possibilities held
out in this direction, essayed to participate in the boom, her exports
of pulp to these islands during the above-mentioned year reaching
40,972 tons worth £330,456--$1,697,280. In comparison with the figure
for Scandinavia the Teuton contribution may appear small, but it must
not be forgotten that this represented a 50 per cent. increase in
Germany’s favour within two years. During the year in question Canada
and Newfoundland also swelled the home market, the aggregate of pulp
and paper accepted from their mills by Britain being 119,742 tons
valued at £279,374--$1,396,870.
Then came the war, and this upset the upward tendency of the foreign
manufacturers to an alarming degree, as well as causing distinct
stringency among ourselves. Germany was knocked out of the market in
one blow, while the demand for shipping likewise extinguished the
Canadian contributions. Then came the appointment of a Controller to
adjust the Scandinavian situation, and official action in regard to
restrictions, which were admittedly severe, threw the Scandinavian
industry all sixes and sevens. Some idea of the degree to which the
imports of paper and pulp from Scandinavia were hit may be gathered
from the figures for 1918--390,000 tons as compared with the pre-war
supply of 2,000,000 tons, representing a fall of 82 per cent.
The situation at home assumed an ominous aspect. Cutting off imports
reduced supplies to a figure hopelessly below demand. The issue was
further aggravated from the circumstance that the domestic industry had
not been advanced to the position where it could take up the producing
reins to make up the deficiency. The output from British mills during
1918 only approximately equalled the importation for the year, and was
less than double the figure at which it stood five years before, which
was about 200,000 tons.
In these circumstances the Controller was called upon to make a round
700,000 tons of paper go as far as had 2,000,000 in pre-war days. As
a matter of fact the last-named figure was short of the mark, for the
simple reason that sources of consumption, and heavy ones at that,
which had been non-existent five years previously had sprung up and
were in the full blaze of activity. I refer to the various Government
departments created as a direct result of the war.
Where does all the paper go? To the lay mind this question appears
impossible of a comprehensive answer. He concedes that the publishing
and commercial worlds, from the magnitude of their operations, must
absorb colossal quantities, but this reflection does not bring complete
comfort. During the war period it was not so difficult to reduce the
apparent enigma to simple explanation. The Stationery Office devoured
paper to the extent of 57,000 tons a year. The Ministry of Munitions
absorbed 1,000 tons a week in the actual manufacture of missiles, one
use being the substitution of aluminium by paper for filling the tips
of bullets, while fuse cylinders were also contrived from paper instead
of from tin. The Ministry of Food called for 400 to 500 tons of paper
to provide the cards for sugar, meat and butter rations, while the
issuance of the subsequent ration books ran away with another 750 tons.
The War Office was probably the heaviest consumer, from the simple fact
that all jams and preserves issued to the army, and packed in one-pound
consignments, were served in paper cartons instead of tins. Seeing that
the quantities of jams issued in this manner ran into millions, the
consumption of paper for the containers was stupendous. Such zealous
and ingenious recourse to paper instead of metals for such purposes was
readily explicable. For instance, at the time, tin was costing about
£320--$1,600--per ton as compared with brown paper at £35--$175--and
cardboard at £50--$250--per ton respectively. It was to the advantage
of the nation to abandon costly metals whenever and wherever a paper
substitute was equally serviceable.
To counteract the shortage in supplies from abroad every effort was
made to extend and to develop the domestic manufacturing facilities.
This was not such a simple task as it appeared, inasmuch as we are
sadly lacking in the reserves of the necessary material. We possess
no soft-wood forests waiting to be turned into paper. In these
circumstances the alternative was to embark upon a voyage of discovery
and experiment in the hope that an efficient inexpensive range of
substitutes might be unearthed to take the place of the imported
wood-pulp, either exclusively, which was scarcely to be expected, or
to a very pronounced degree.
Official intervention brought home to us one very heavy wastage. This
was in regard to the pulp which we imported. Two different kinds
of pulp are produced abroad: The one, produced after the manner
practised by our friend the wasp, but by mechanical agency, is known
as mechanical pulp; the other, contrived by the aid of chemicals, is
commercially known as chemical or sulphite pulp. In so far as the
first named was concerned official investigation revealed that the
Scandinavian mills were accustomed to send the article in a wet form.
Now, seeing that wet pulp comprises 50 per cent. of moisture, it will
be seen that the vessels bearing this commodity--and tonnage was
severely limited--were really working only to one-half of their actual
carrying capacity. With every ton of pulp the ships were compelled to
carry one ton of water, and to ship water to Britain is comparable with
sending snow to Greenland.
The Scandinavian mills were more than willing to ship wet pulp by
the thousands of tons, and the British paper-makers were every whit
as ready to receive it. To obtain the raw material in this form
facilitated, expedited and cheapened the actual paper-making process.
It was another instance of British readiness to sacrifice every other
interest upon the altars of cheapness and minimum of effort. The
Controller, naturally, demurred against paying freight for the carriage
of water which is only too abundant in these islands, and forthwith
demanded that the pulp should be sent over in the dry form. In this
manner he achieved a laudable object: he doubled the quantity of pulp
supplied to Britain without calling upon a further ton of shipping for
the purpose.
The pulp-makers of Scandinavia, and the paper-makers of Britain,
objected to this rational action. Strong protests were levelled against
the new order. The affected interests went to great length to explain
that the wet pulp was essential, and advanced their reasons--technical,
financial and otherwise, but they failed to upset the decision which
had been made. The Controller was not seeking the unattainable, because
a certain proportion of dry mechanical pulp has always been shipped
to this country. It was merely another instance of affected interests
desiring to achieve their respective purposes along the lines of least
resistance. In no circumstances, normal or war, can the conveyance of
water with raw material to these islands be justifiable.
The reason why the pulp-maker was so anxious to ship his pulp wet was
because under such conditions he could market it at a lower figure and
dispatch it with greater facility. The paper-maker championed the wet
form for the reason that it was more convenient to him; he was able
to turn it straightaway into his machines. But when imported dry the
pulp must be subjected to certain preliminary treatment which involves
time, trouble, and a certain expense. Consequently, out of 100 tons of
mechanical pulp normally shipped to Britain, only one ton was in the
dry form; the other 99 tons were in the more handy wet form. Certainly
there are accepted technical objections to dry pulp. It is brittle and
apt to chip. But wet or dry it cannot be used exclusively and solely
in the preparation of even the lowest grades of newspaper. A certain
proportion of the chemical pulp must be added to impart the requisite
degree of firmness and stoutness to the fabric.
A little investigation reveals why the Scandinavian pulp-makers were
firmly set upon shipping the pulp wet. In pre-war days the British
paper-maker paid from £2 5s. to £2 10s.--$11.25 to $12.50--a ton
for the moist pulp delivered at a British port. Freight was a mere
bagatelle, averaging about 5s.--$1.25--per ton. To convert the wet into
dry pulp prior to shipment the Swedish pulp-makers must use coal. This,
thanks to hydro-electric energy, is not required in the fabrication
of the actual pulp. But Sweden is deficient in coal resources and
compliance with the British official request involved the importation
of British coal. Inasmuch as it takes from 1,120 to 1,680 lb. of coal
to dry one ton of pulp it will be seen that the Swedish manufacturers
were faced with a fuel bill which was likely to run into big figures.
Under war conditions British coal was expensive, while quality was
subject to wide variation. At that time the coal commanded from £8
to £10--$40 to $50--per ton in Sweden. Consequently, to his disgust,
the pulp-maker was confronted with the necessity to incur an extra
manufacturing charge ranging from £4 to £8--$20 to $40--per ton of pulp
produced.
It is to be feared that the Swedish manufacturers, while anxious to
sell as much as possible to, were very reluctant to buy, from these
islands. They denounced the British official decree in no unmeasured
terms, and sought by every means in their power to secure its
withdrawal. But for once British authority was not solicitous of the
interests of the foreigner. Recognizing the futility of protest the
Scandinavian makers set to work to comply with our demands, and so
shipped the pulp in the dry form. We received the benefits accruing
from this line of action because we received twice as much pulp as
formerly for the same amount of tonnage. True, it cost us more, the
price running up to £32--$160--per ton, but it is to be feared that the
foreign manufacturers took full advantage of the peculiar situation
which prevailed in accordance with that inexorable law of supply and
demand, although they maintained that their manufacturing charges
were heavily inflated, not only from the purchase of the necessary
coal, but from the higher wages which labour demanded. But even at the
above figure we derived distinct advantage. Seeing that one ton of
dry represented the equivalent to two tons of wet pulp we were really
paying at the rate of only £16--$80--per ton, less the sum which had
to be deducted from the sale of our coal. Restriction of freight had a
good deal to do with the enhanced prices. Only 250,000 tons of shipping
a year were allocated to this traffic, and what cost 5s.--$1.25--a
ton to ship in 1913 cost £13--$65 per ton in 1918. British ships
participating in this trade were thus able to get back something of the
heavy prices we paid to the foreigner for an indispensable commodity.
But even £32--$160--per ton for dry mechanical pulp contrasted
favourably with the chemical pulp, also shipped dry. This, which before
the war cost £7 10s.--$37.50--per ton shot up to £47--$235--a ton at
one period, and recorded £35--$175--per ton during 1918, while paper,
even of the lowest grade, which commanded £10--$50--a ton in 1913,
realized £45--$225--per ton in 1918.
Contemporaneously with the adjustment of the various questions
pertaining to the Scandinavian pulp and paper, the authorities set to
work to develop the domestic raw material industry. Obviously the most
promising founts were rags and waste-paper. It was computed that, if
these available sources were fully exploited, it would be possible to
secure some 300,000 tons of suitable material during the year.
However, it was seen that the first step would be to instil into the
minds of the community the necessity to observe rigid economy in the
use of paper. Rationing brought home the fact that a paper shortage
existed, and, of itself, led users to be more sparing in their uses
of this article, in precisely the same way as similar measures
effected comparative results in connection with foodstuffs and other
commodities. But in so far as paper is concerned it is difficult to
preach the gospel of economy; it has been ridiculously cheap and
abundant for far too long. Nevertheless much was accomplished, but
whether the lessons thus imparted have been taken sufficiently to heart
as to become ingrained is problematical. Reversion to former conditions
will probably promote a state of affairs as bad as, if not worse than,
before.
The wasteful consumption of paper was by no means confined to any
particular class of the community. Industry was every whit as
improvident. For instance, the soap-making trade naturally absorbs
immense quantities of the article, but the manufacturers were shown
how, by practising simple saving methods, they might do with 10,000
tons less per year, which, at the prices then prevailing, represented a
round £350,000--$1,750,000--per annum. To one firm alone the suggestion
represented a possible economy of £75,000--$375,000--a year. What is
possible of attainment in the soap-making industry is equally feasible
in other trades, especially those identified with provisions. If such
broad economies be carried out they could scarcely fail to exercise,
under competitive trading conditions, an appreciable influence upon
the price of the products concerned. Consequently, paper, as already
indicated, has a more or less direct bearing upon the cost of living.
The wastage of paper throughout the country is appalling. Upon the
completion of its designed function the material is either burned,
consigned to dust-bin, or allowed to pursue an aimless journey at the
mercy of the wind through our highways and byways. People of a thrifty
turn of mind undoubtedly save their waste, disposing of it at intervals
to itinerant collectors, who acquire the litter of the house in
exchange for something more or less attractive, if not useful, in kind.
Previous to the war very little of this waste found its way back
to the domestic paper mills to be re-made. The percentage of waste
blended with new pulp was very low, certainly not more than 2 per
cent. Even this was almost entirely restricted to what is known as
“broke,” that is the trimmings from the reels when repairing breakages
in the continuous lengths running through the printing or paper-making
machines.
Strange to relate, nearly the whole of the waste-paper recovered from
the household, office and factory was exported, principally to the
United States of America, until an American firm, discovering Britain
to be a waste-paper mine, established itself in our midst to salvage
an appreciable quantity of what we regarded as a nuisance. This refuse
was utilized as raw material for the manufacture of paper-boards, the
American analogue to our familiar strawboard, to form book covers,
stout packing, and to meet other conditions where adequate protection
to contents is demanded. This became a prosperous undertaking and
afforded merely another instance of how the stranger within our gates
has been able to reap material profit at our expense and through our
folly.
Although this firm absorbed an enormous quantity of our waste-paper
it could not cope with the avalanche of this refuse. Many additional
thousands of tons were shipped annually to the New World to be worked
up. It seems remarkable that the Americans should have found it
profitable to collect our residue, to freight it across 3,000 miles
of ocean, and to fabricate therefrom their particular range of goods,
instead of turning the material available on their own side to such
account. But the venture proved decidedly profitable as the results
testified. Indeed, it was the enterprise of this pushing firm which
first brought home to us the wealth capable of being derived from the
commercial exploitation of waste-paper, and which led us to introduce a
collecting system upon an organized basis.
When the authorities grasped the significance of the waste-paper issue
they promptly took steps to retain the whole of the residue in these
islands. Export was prohibited; it could only be returned to British
mills. A country-wide appeal was made urging every trader and every
private citizen to conserve his waste-paper, whether it were used
envelopes, newspapers, postcards or fragments of brown paper. So urgent
became the demand for this raw material that housewives were requested
to ransack their cupboards and lumber-rooms for odds and ends of every
description in the paper line--old novels, abandoned magazines and
what not; business houses, workshops, and factories were invited to
indulge in spring-cleanings to turn out musty files of old letters,
receipts, memoranda, obsolete account books and other accumulations;
paper hangings stripped from walls in course of redecoration, instead
of being burned, were sedulously bagged; even hoardings were divested
of their hard thick hides of superimposed posters to provide food for
the paper mills. Municipal authorities were urged to participate in the
round-up, since it was recognized that imposing quantities of paper
evaded all other methods of recovery from inadvertent committal to the
dust-bin. In another chapter I have indicated what was done in this
direction.
The authorities stimulated the great national paper-chase by
every possible artifice. Waste-paper organizers, to the number of
thirty-five, were appointed to various parts of the country to foster
and to supervise the collection of this refuse. Licences were granted
to approved merchants authorizing them to deal in the article. Prices
were fixed and graduated according to the quality of the waste, and
upon a liberal basis to encourage one and all to conserve and to hand
over their accumulations of what they considered to be sheer rubbish.
In this way waste-paper was poured back into the British mills for
remanufacture in a steady stream of 4,300 tons a week. For a time the
volume was maintained, but then it gradually and persistently declined
because as the founts became exhausted the quantity of paper put back
into circulation suffered a steady decrease.
Despite the elaborate precautions observed, and the salvage
organizations instituted, a vast quantity of the refuse escaped
recovery. Paper is something like the elusive pin: where it goes no one
appears to know. During the period when salvage was being pressed home
with all vigour the British mills were turning out about 700,000 tons
of paper a year. Of this aggregate approximately one-fifth--150,000
tons--went to the army in the field in France in some form or other.
A further 150,000 tons could not be expected to be recovered as waste,
being either retained or submitted to certain necessary applications
such as filing, the lighting of fires, and so on. This left a balance
of 400,000 tons which went into circulation, but of which only 200,000
tons were retrieved to be sent back to the mills to be repulped. What
became of the outstanding 200,000 tons it was impossible to say:
it simply disappeared. Probably much suffered destruction through
ignorance, while no doubt much was lost through being soiled to such a
degree as to be beyond redemption. But the fact remained that of the
700,000 tons produced at least 50 per cent., or 350,000 tons--including
the 150,000 tons sent to France--were completely lost, whereas by the
exercise of a little forethought, care and trouble the greater part
thereof might have been retrieved. Through negligence or ignorance the
nation was losing a round £3,350,000--$16,750,000--a year, because the
paper was worth at least one penny--2 cents--a pound in the waste form.
From the magnitude of the absolute losses it is obvious that we could
never have sustained ourselves for long upon the forthcoming supplies
of waste-paper and the diminished foreign imports of pulp to serve
as raw materials. Accordingly search was made for other potential
raw materials of domestic origin, the governing principle of this
mission being to place the country in such a position as to be quite
independent of the foreigner in all matters pertaining to paper, not
only during the war period, but after the cessation of hostilities.
Paper, in one respect, is a curious manufactured product. It can be
made from almost any fibrous material with the exception of wool.
The knowledge of this fact prompted members of the general public to
advance the claims of divers and wondrous substances. As may be readily
imagined, the majority of these suggestions erred somewhat upon the
side of the fantastic and chimerical. The mere fact that paper can
be made from almost anything does not necessarily imply that it is
commercially practicable to exploit even the most obvious raw materials
indiscriminately. There is a wide and deep gulf between the laboratory,
the cradle of experiment, and the factory, the home of application.
In the first-named the factor of cost of production does not count;
in the last-named it constitutes the crux of the issue. Consequently
the majority of the recommendations submitted by the uninitiated
suffered from the disability of being perfectly feasible but hopelessly
impracticable. Submission of a suggestion to the cold, unrelenting,
unsympathetic manufacturing analysis and subsequent translation into
pounds, shillings, and pence offered the incontestable reply to the
inevitable question “Will it pay?”
One article of domestic origin, the spartina, or common couch grass,
which thrives in abundance upon many stretches of our coastline,
notably Hampshire, was responsible for an avalanche of letters
containing inquiries as to why this material was not being turned to
account. Apparently every individual who had visited the neighbourhood
of the Solent, and had observed the density of this growth, assailed
the authorities for their lethargy. Esparto grass was imported from
Spain to make paper, and yet here we were ignoring a readily obtainable
indigenous grass similar in every respect!
But the claims of spartina had been promptly investigated--to be
found wanting. In the first place, when a new material appears to be
promising the question as to whether sufficiently imposing supplies
could be forthcoming must be considered carefully. The paper-making
machines are insatiable and avaricious, devouring raw material not by
the ton but by the thousands of tons. This in turn gives rise to the
question as to the cost of securing the necessarily heavy supplies.
One enthusiast, who had advanced the claims of the couch grass, was
interrogated upon the subject because he had evolved a means of
gathering the spartina. When he was asked the cost of his process he
blandly replied that he could do it for £15--$75--per ton. He received
a shock when he was told that there was another material, forthcoming
in far greater quantities, and far more suitable for the purpose, which
could be obtained and delivered to the mill for £4 10s.--$22.50--a ton!
I may remark that spartina grass is being used for paper-making where
the conditions favour its cheap collection and transport. Speaking
generally, however, with prices at an artificial level, any material
costing more than £5--$25--per ton delivered at the mill--this figure
is inclusive of collecting, transport, and other charges--stands little
chance of favourable consideration. Under normal trading conditions
the prospect will be even less attractive.
The acquisition of the raw material represents merely the preliminary
phase of the whole issue. To reduce it to pulp involves the consumption
of coal--cheap water-power is rare in these islands--and so the
probable fuel bill requires to be sounded. How many tons of coal will
be required to produce a ton of pulp? It is a simple question and one
which prompts another, closely allied thereto, namely, “How many tons
of such-and-such material will be required to furnish a ton of paper?”
This is the rock upon which many buoyant expectations have been
completely wrecked. Still confining ourselves to the couch grass, and
considering the second factor first, we find that it has rather a low
yield efficiency, this being in the neighbourhood of 27 per cent. In
other words, it will require nearly four tons of crude grass to produce
one ton of paper. When ranged beside esparto grass, with which it seems
to have much in common, and which therefore is a convenient comparative
unit, the outlook for the couch grass is completely shattered, because
the efficiency yield of esparto is high, 43·5 per cent. Only a little
more than two tons of grass are necessary to produce one ton of paper.
But the fuel factor is far more destructive to the claims of the
waste grass growing upon the seashore. To make one ton of paper from
esparto grass, under the most favourable conditions, requires 3 tons
of coal. In actual practice it ranges from 3·5 to 4 tons. But with
spartina grass the coal consumption is forced up to 5, and even to 7,
tons under the unfavourable conditions prevailing in many paper-mills.
Accordingly, it will be seen that couch grass cannot be construed
into an attractive raw material for paper. I may say there are other
objections to its use, but the foregoing are sufficient to bring about
its rejection in this phase of utility.
Even if we take those materials which are accepted as being the most
favourable to the manufacture of paper we gain enlightenment. One
ton of waste-paper will not yield one ton of new paper as might be
imagined. The loss in re-manufacture is about 25 per cent., so that
from the 58,000 tons which enter into the made waste of the country we
could produce about 44,000 tons of new paper. Cotton rags have a high
yield efficiency, being in the neighbourhood of 85 per cent. and upon
this basis we might safely expect a yield of some 16,000 tons of paper
from the 19,000 tons of rags committed to the dust-bins of the country.
It may be mentioned that in the search for indigenous materials
whence paper might be manufactured, the whole gamut of obvious
domestic contributions to the issue have been examined, including such
substances as sawdust, wood-shavings, wood-slats, grasses of which
there are over 100 varieties, mimosa bark, peat, straw, flax-wastes,
flax-shoves, and dried potato vine. Of this wide selection only four
materials hold out any promise of extending commercial possibilities.
These include sawdust, wood-shavings, wood-slats and straw, with
potato haulm serving as an excellent material for the fabrication of a
coarse, strong, brown packing paper. Of course, it must be explained
that these materials are in addition to those generally utilized in the
industry, such as rags, sacking, bagging and reeds, to mention only a
few substances.
The definite end sought in the first instance was not so much the
discovery of suitable substances to supersede entirely the imported
mechanical and chemical pulps, as the presentation of materials which
might be considered effectively as useful for dilution purposes. By
this is meant the production of a pulp, made perhaps from some familiar
product, which, when added to a certain proportion of the conventional
pulp, would yield a paper comparable with that derived from the
last-named exclusively. Any success recorded in connection with a
diluent offers the means to enable a specific quantity of the imported
raw material to be induced to go farther than would be the case
otherwise, this tendency becoming accentuated as dilution is increased.
It was essentially in this light that the feasibility of pressing
sawdust, wood-slats, and other wood and vegetable refuse was
considered. Of course, behind all these developments, experiments,
and researches, there has been the lingering hope that ways and means
might ultimately be found of enabling us to dispense with outside
sources of supply in their entirety. This hope still prevails, and,
if properly fostered, may lead to realization. But to consummate such
an end it is essential to employ materials capable of yielding a pulp
as closely resembling the article derived from the tree as possible.
Patient investigation proved that sawdust offered the most attractive
possibilities in this connection.
While doubt has been expressed concerning the adaptability of sawdust
to this duty there are the experiences of Canada and the United States
to guide us. Indeed, we need not go out of these islands to obtain
confirmatory evidence of its applicability to paper-making. Britain
pioneered the utilization of sawdust for the manufacture of paper, and,
by a strange coincidence, it was the Napoleonic wars which compelled
us to resort to such a manifestation of enterprise. With the exit of
Napoleon from the world’s political stage the necessity to exploit
sawdust in this connection disappeared, and so the process fell into
disuse, to lie dormant for a round one hundred years. Consequently the
use of sawdust really represents but a revival of an old practice.
But, so far as these islands are concerned, and under normal
conditions, sawdust can scarcely be regarded as a paper-making
material. The quantity available from our sawmills is too meagre to
enable the idea to be practised extensively. There is just one chance
of placing the development upon a firm footing. We are big consumers
of timber, but the greater part of our requirements in this field
are satisfied by importing supplies in a manufactured condition.
Attempts are being made to restore the British wood-working industry
by importing lumber in the slabbed condition, that is square trimmed
logs either in the form of huge rafts or demountable ships. Should
this development mature then our sawmills will become clogged with
huge accumulations of wood-waste in the form of the sawdust, the
exploitation of which will be keenly appreciated.
During the war, however, the necessity to exploit the forests of
Britain to contribute to the requirements of the army and mines in
regard to wood has resulted in the piling-up of huge heaps of sawdust.
It was discovered that in Scotland alone this residue was accumulating
at the rate of 60,000 tons a year, through the activity of the
Canadian lumberjacks. Conservative estimates place the annual sawdust
yield throughout the British Isles at 150,000 tons. Of this gigantic
contribution only from 5 to 10 per cent. is drawn from hard woods. The
balance, 90 to 95 per cent., is derived from the soft woods and so
furnishes a huge reservoir of potential raw material for paper-making.
Coincident with the accumulation of sawdust are the fabrication of huge
piles of wood-slats--the trimmings from the logs. These also represent
sheer refuse, the only possible disposal being in the form of fire or
kindling wood. At one lumber-camp in Scotland there was found a pile, a
sprawling, ragged and jagged stack, house-high, covering 20 acres, and
containing, at a modest estimate, from 300 to 500 tons of wood-waste.
It was ideal for paper-making as investigations proved, but was then
merely being allowed to rot.
The process of preparing sawdust for the paper-maker is very simple and
inexpensive. It may be described as an application of the system for
producing mechanical pulp, because, in the main, the resultant product
is very similar to the latter in its essential characteristics. The
waste, being the product of the buzz-saw, is coarse in texture. It is
first passed over a riddle of wide mesh, which, while allowing the dust
proper to fall through readily, collects the pieces of bark, chips,
and other fragments of wood which may have become associated with the
dust. This residue is thrown to one side for conversion by a different
method. The sifted sawdust is dumped into a hopper to fall by gravity
in a steady stream into the mill, which is somewhat reminiscent of the
familiar mortar-mill, below. As it enters the latter it is caught up by
the revolving grindstone and crushed against the stationary stone, the
result being that it is disintegrated and pulverized. By virtue of the
centrifugal action set up the dust, as it is whirled round, naturally
works from the centre to the periphery of the wheels, the coarser
particles or tailings being flung out, while the finely-divided dust,
produced by the grinding action, falls into a separate receptacle.
The tailings are recovered to be re-passed through the mill, and,
in time, for the most part are also ground to the desired degree of
fineness. A certain proportion of residue defies reduction in this
manner, but it is not discarded. It is retrieved to be used in the
manufacture of coarse brown paper. Two methods of grinding, even in the
vertical mill, are practised. The one known as the wet process involves
the addition of water to the dust, which thus becomes hydrated, the
resultant saw-pulp, as it is called, being somewhat similar to the
familiar wet mechanical pulp. The alternative process is described as
dry grinding, the sap in the wood constituting the only moist agent.
It may be mentioned that, in the very earliest attempts to emulate the
wasps’ paper-making process, the experimenter ground the wood to dust
by applying the log to the face of a grindstone which was revolving,
water being the lubricant, the practice recalling the grinding of
tools. The particles of wood fell, with the water, into the trough
beneath. The surplus water was drawn off, leaving a mashy residue or
pulp--hence the name.
In grinding the sawdust the coarse material is reduced to a fine
powdery substance, soft and silky in texture when dry, but which
retains the essential fibrous characteristic, though naturally the
length of the individual fibre is extremely minute. But pulp so
produced possesses one advantage for the paper-maker--it demands no
preliminary boiling. It can be discharged direct into the beater,
as the machine which prepares the raw material for the paper-making
machine is called, with the waste-paper, sulphite or mechanical pulp,
or a mixture of both, it only being necessary for the agitation of the
contents of the beater to be conducted thoroughly to bring about the
perfect blending of the ingredients.
I have emphasized the circumstance that this saw-pulp may only be
considered as a diluent. This may be varied from 10 to 35 per cent.
according to the quality of the paper desired. The issue of the
_Times_, dated June 15, 1918, was printed on paper containing 20 per
cent. of this saw-pulp, but I have seen other newspapers the paper for
which was prepared from pulp diluted to the extent of 35 per cent. with
the saw-pulp. With the accumulation of experience in the working up
of this material marked improvements are to be recorded in regard to
quality of the resultant paper which has enabled dilution to be carried
to an enhanced degree without imperilling the factor of strength which
the finished product must possess to enable it to be passed through the
newspaper printing machine at a speed of 500 feet per minute without
breaking. Under modern conditions it is difficult to determine whether
or not saw-pulp has been introduced into the composition of the paper,
which testifies conclusively to the perfection of production.
This economic utilization of one waste from the sawmill is of decisive
financial significance. Cost of production is extremely low, because
the power for driving the grinding mill may be obtained by firing the
steam boilers either with sawdust itself, the consumption thereof being
small, or with the refuse resulting from the preliminary sifting of
the dust. Indeed, the process holds out such alluring possibilities
that there is no reason why every sawmill should not include a grinding
mill to treat the residue on the spot, shipping the saw-pulp direct
to the mill, thus turning what is now an unmitigated nuisance and a
source of danger into a distinct commercial asset. It is estimated
that a grinding mill requiring 25 h.p. for its operation could turn
out 1¹⁄₃ tons of saw-pulp in the course of the ordinary 8 hours’
working day or 7 tons a week. The cost of such a plant would be about
£400--$2,000--and the price obtainable for the product should be
sufficient to render the conversion of the waste to this useful purpose
attractive after paying all outgoings. At the time the practice was
brought into operation the cost of reducing the sawdust to saw-pulp
of the desired character was from £5 to £6--$25 to $30--per ton. It
is estimated that the saw-pulp maker would be equitably rewarded with
£8--$40--per ton for the finished material ready for transport to the
mill. On this basis a grinding mill, working to full capacity through
the 44 hours’ working week, should be able to show a gross profit of
£21--$105--which should leave an adequate margin of net profit to
encourage such exploitation of the waste. The expansion of this young
industry, however, depends entirely upon the conditions which will
obtain upon the restoration of normal trading. It is a moot point
whether the Scandinavian pulp-makers will ever be able to revert to
pre-war quotations for their product, owing to the increasing costs
of production, and this fact should render the outlook distinctly
promising for the home producers, more especially if the sawmill
trade be destined to undergo a decided revival. Every ton of saw-pulp
produced from the waste will prove beneficial to the nation, for the
simple reason that it will enable us to reduce our purchases from
foreign sources of pulp by a corresponding amount.
While saw-pulp can only be regarded as a contribution to the
paper-making problem, there happens to be another waste product
suitable for this purpose, one which is available in much larger
quantities, and the supply of which would seem to be increasing rather
than decreasing. I refer to straw. Hitherto we have sadly neglected the
many possibilities offered in this connection, having preferred to turn
our by-product of the grain fields to other applications and to import
vast quantities of strawboard for the manufacture of boxes, containers,
and what not. Other countries have been more industrious and
enterprising than we, but what they have achieved is equally feasible
in these islands. To bring home the magnitude of this industry it is
only necessary to relate that our annual pre-war imports of strawboard
from Holland reached 250,000 tons.
There is no reason why such a lamentable state of affairs should
continue. Straw is not only useful for the production of strawboard,
but it constitutes an excellent material for the manufacture of paper.
Its yield efficiency, while lower than that of esparto grass, being
only 33·3 per cent., is sufficiently high to render its exploitation
in this direction highly promising, especially as the material can be
obtained in huge quantities.
At the present moment our supplies of straw for civilian needs may
rule low and prices may be high. But this is due to the heavy military
demands. Once the latter retire from the market and leave the article
to take care of itself, a marked drop in price may be confidently
anticipated, particularly if our new agricultural policy be maintained.
So long as it pays the farmer to grow corn he will continue to do so,
and the more acres he brings under this indispensable commodity the
greater will be the quantity of the by-product thrown upon the market.
It is anticipated that, when things settle down, from 2,000,000 to
3,000,000 tons of straw in excess of civilian needs will be available,
and the only possible outlet then for this waste from our grain-fields
will be the paper-mill. The utilization of the straw in this direction
will be influenced by charges for fuel and labour, while, of course,
the price of the imported pulp will affect any decision which may be
contemplated in regard to the exploitation of our home resources. But
assuming that the Scandinavian pulp will be dearer as a result of
enhanced production charges, and assuming that dumping tactics just
to hold the market will be frustrated, it is quite possible that we
shall find it cheaper to depend upon our own exertions with domestic
materials. If the quantity of straw which I have mentioned should
become available and be absorbed for this purpose, it will be adequate
to furnish from 670,000 to 1,000,000 tons of paper.
The straw, borne directly from the land, is relatively cheap. The
cost, delivered to the mill, even during the war was only about £4
10s.--$22.50--per ton. This figure is likely to fall. It produces
an excellent paper, but it is essential that it should be chopped
very finely preparatory to treatment, after which it is boiled with
chemicals and finally bleached. The yield efficiency being 33·3 per
cent. it follows that three tons of straw are required to produce one
ton of paper.
But the straw is not only required for the production of paper; it
is equally necessary for the manufacture of strawboard. Under war
conditions an appreciable quantity of the reclaimed paper was being
repulped to furnish cardboard and paper-board for packing purposes
to make good the shortage prevailing in regard to the Dutch product.
But the waste-paper is more useful for paper-making. Accordingly it
is being switched over to this duty. It was merely utilized otherwise
during the war because it was so urgently required, the national
consumption running into approximately 100,000 tons annually. Efforts
are being made to establish the strawboard industry in these islands.
The Dutch method has been adopted, and there are hopes that the output
will be speedily raised to 50,000 tons a year. While this falls far
short of the actual imports it represents a bold commencement to
emancipate us from the necessity to pay tribute to the foreigner to the
extent of nearly £1,000,000--$5,000,000--per year for an article which
we might just as well produce at home.
Why do we not undertake the manufacture of wood-pulp in this country?
This is an obvious question. But so far as these islands are concerned
the absence of supplies of raw material in the form of forests has been
responsible for the British abandonment of this range of activity.
Anterior to the outbreak of war there were three mills in this country
possessing integral facilities for pulping wood by the sulphite
process, but it was unremunerative owing to the insufficient supplies
of suitable indigenous timber. Two mills permitted their sulphite
plant to fall into disuse and in course of time dismantled them. The
third mill maintained operations, though under difficulties, while its
contribution was small in comparison with that of Scandinavia, its
capacity being only 6,000 tons a year.
The enormous accumulations of wood-slats arising from the exploitation
of our forests to meet military requirements turned native thought
towards the resuscitation of the chemical system of pulping. A scheme
was promulgated for the erection of a plant in Scotland to work upon
the _sulphate_ process, the proposed site for the plant happening to
be in close proximity to one of the largest ephemeral logging camps.
By the sulphate system the wood is reduced to a pulp by boiling in
a solution of caustic soda, and for this reason is often known as
soda pulp to distinguish it from the sulphite pulp. It requires three
tons of wood chips to yield one ton of pulp, which incidentally I may
mention is one of the strongest pulps known to the paper-making craft.
At the time the problem was discussed this pulp commanded £40--$200--a
ton, and so manufacture was considered to offer an alluring prospect
for British enterprise. The only defect in this pulp is that it is
difficult to bleach, and therefore can be used only sparingly in the
production of white paper. It is used principally in the manufacture
of strong brown papers, such as “thin kraft,” the brown paper used for
fruit and other bags, or for packing-paper where colour is of minor
importance.
Henceforth “kraft” will be in heavy demand for quite a new range of
activity. This is the production of paper textiles in which British
inventiveness has far out-distanced the German achievements in this
field. At the moment the British company specializing in these textiles
is being called upon to pay £40--$200--per ton for its raw material
drawn from Scandinavia, so that any fall in price which was anticipated
as a result of the cessation of hostilities, which would be likely
to undercut British production, has failed to materialize so far. It
may also be mentioned that British enterprise is quite ready to bring
over illimitable quantities of soft woods from the forests of Eastern
Canada in the log condition, and at a rate which is far cheaper than
that which has hitherto prevailed. This is due to a complete revolution
which has been wrought in the water movement of lumber, and it will
not only enable the requisite material to be acquired at a figure
severely competitive, but allow much of the waste lumber in Canada, at
present being ignored, to be submitted to commercial service.
But the exploitation of the foregoing materials by no means exhausts
our possibilities in this field. There are other substances, of a
refuse character, possessing undoubted virtues for paper-making. Among
these may be mentioned potato haulm. There is every indication that
our output of the potato will record a decided increase owing to the
development of industrial science in other fields. Consequently it is
only logical to expect increased accumulations of the bine. At the
present moment the vegetation in question is regarded more or less
as useless. It should be turned back into the ground to assist in
feeding the soil, but many farmers are disinclined to follow such a
practice for the reason that the bine is apt to foul the plough, and
thus delay the ground-breaking task. Its fertilizer content, or rather
the phosphoric acid and potash constituents, are generally reclaimed
by burning the bine and turning in the ash, but this process is to be
deprecated inasmuch as the whole of the valuable nitrogen content is
lost.
The haulm, owing to the nature of its fibres, is held to be an
excellent material for the production of brown paper where strength is
the essential requirement. So a British inventor devised what may be
described as a kind of decorticating machine to rend the tough fibre
to pieces upon the spot. The machine is simple, free from liability
to easy derangement, and ingenious. It is suggested that it should
be acquired by the farmer to permit the treatment of this waste as
recovered during the lifting season. It is held to make especial
appeal to the agriculturist possessing a motor-tractor, the requisite
energy being drawn therefrom through belt and pulley. It is estimated
that the manufacture of the machine, upon a sufficiently large scale,
will enable it to be sold at about £100--$500. The shredded stalk or
fibre should be able to command from £4 10s. to £5 10s.--$22.50 to
$27.50--per ton at the mill and should appeal to the paper-maker owing
to its high yield efficiency, which is in the neighbourhood of 65 per
cent. Of course, the suggestion that this waste should be recovered for
the production of paper is one that can only be entertained by the
large grower, but it is computed that at least 1,000 machines would be
necessary to cope with the country’s annual output of this refuse.
Another waste product which has also been subjected to test, and found
promising, is the husk from the oat which accrues from milling. The
useless offal resulting from grinding this grain is approximately
35 per cent. In its general characteristics the oat-husk closely
resembles sawdust, while its preparation for paper-making entails a
broadly identical process--passage through a grinding mill to reduce
the residue to the desired consistency. Investigations proved the
suitability of this husk-pulp as an ingredient for making certain
low-grade papers, such as are used by grocers, and for the very
cheapest literature. Paper so made is composed of oat-husks, 35 per
cent.; waste-paper, 50 per cent.; imported pulp, 15 per cent. But the
most gratifying feature of such paper is that it can be made from
domestic raw materials--waste--to the extent of 85 per cent.
It is evident, from what I have related, that the paper situation
need never occasion us any undue alarm. We have abundant materials
available in the form of waste which we might exploit to our material
and financial profit. War, with its concomitant evils, has turned the
world upside down. What we could not exploit previously to advantage,
owing to severely competitive prices, is now rendered feasible. It only
remains for us to submit the results of proved experiments to actual
commercial practice.