Palpable paper

PALPABLE
PAPER
A mini information booklet for the little geniuses
Paper Day, August 01, 2019

Know Paper, Use Paper, Recycle Paper Page 2
Preface:
Paper is a lovely product. Paper is a good raw material also for
several products. Paper is in use since long, and witnessed the
growth of mankind, civilization and industrialization, during the
past centuries. For the past few centuries, paper has been the
most used information and data storage medium, has been one
of most preferred packaging medium and found applications as
an intermediate to many other products, like laminates.
During the journey, paper, as well as paper industry has itself
witnessed many changes. The paper making process initiated as
an art has transformed into a well developed technology, using
full scale automation, using sophisticated controls and specially
designed machines to achieve desired results. Still, in the fast
changing world, when our information and knowledge keeps on
expanding, many of us know just a little about this wonderful
product- paper.
This booklet is a small effort to enhance the knowledge of our
students- the little geniuses, about paper.

_P_A_P_E_R_
What comes to your mind first when you hear or read the word-
PAPER? Most of you must imagine notebooks, textbooks,
newspaper- all that we use to read and write. Is that really all?
Have a close look at your surroundings. Most of the items you
use; come in corrugated boxes, which are made of paper. The
tissue you use in toilet is paper. The laminate (commonly known
as mica) is also a paper based product. Your tea bag is made of
paper. Paper is considered as the best material to wrap jewels
and diamonds. So, it is paper-paper everywhere.
A student generally lives in a paper world. Reading textbooks,
taking class notes on notebooks, practicing learned lessons on
paper, and finally taking the tests and examinations on paper;
paper-paper everywhere in the life of a student. To further
enrich your knowledge I have summarized some useful
information for you and expect you’d really enjoy this
information about paper.

A World without Paper
A world without paper, or paperless society became a
sensational dream about a couple of decades back, particularly,
with the advancement in computers, laptops, mobile and tablets.
Have you ever thought if it is practically possible?
Well, as an immediate thought, you may skip textbooks and
notebooks and use laptop, tablet and mobile for studies. Similar
thing goes for various applications forms, train and air tickets,
bills and receipts etc. The similar can be done for the newspaper
also. But, if you order online, most probably these items will be
shipped to you in a paper corrugated box. The laminates on your
table is also of paper.
Most of grocery items used in house come packed in paper. Even
the cookies, biscuits, which are conventionally being packed in
poly-laminates, reach your neighbor shop in a corrugated carton.
As an experiment, try scanning the life of an imaginary person
from birth to old age, if he or she has to live without using paper
directly or indirectly. A person, who is supposed not to use paper
for any purpose; he should not use any product, which by
default, is being supplied in paper packaging.
Doesn’t this make an interesting debate topic for you and your
classmates?

A Little from History
The history of paper in itself is a fascinating story. Remember,
people were writing long before paper was invented. From clay
tablets to papyrus, linen, animal skins, metals, tree bark and
other materials, mankind used a variety of materials to keep
track of time, goods, and other information. The early China
process included making a suspension of hemp waste in water. It
was then washed, soaked, and beaten to a pulp with a wooden
mallet before pouring the mixture into a wooden frame. Later on
hemp was partially or fully replaced by wood, bamboo, other
plant fibers etc. to improve the quality of paper. Similarly, while
the first uses of paper were mainly as a wrapping for precious
objects, it wasn't too long before people came to realize that it
was better than writing on bamboo or silk. This caused a sudden
increase in demand and hence like the first sign of a new
industry's birth. Improvements also included using starch as a
sizing material and a yellow dye that acted as an insecticide.

Interesting Paper Related Stuff for You
• We celebrate silver jubilee on completion of 25 years, golden
jubilee on completion of 50 years. Do you know what it is called
after completion of 1 year? It’s called Paper Jubilee.
• Paper can take (almost) any treatment. You can write on it, erase
that, rewrite again; you can cut it, paste it, fold it, crush it, tear it,
burn it, slush it with water; but, there’s one thing you cannot do!
Replace it. Can a toilet tissue paper be replaced with sandpaper?
No. That’s why making different grades of paper is important.
• The world has been using paper for more than 2000 years. Still,
paper is continuously exploring new areas of application. Some
companies have started manufacturing paper furniture also.
Though seems weird, this furniture is strong, lightweight and
decorative. Not only this, a company has also made foldable
cardboard paper tents for outing, picnics etc.
• A company in India has started making paper pulp based
tableware which is microwavable, biodegradable, compostable,
oven-able and freezable.

Paper Industry in India
• India, having around 17% of world’s population, uses around 4%
of world’s paper production. We’ve already been using much less
paper compared to the world.
• On a rough estimate, the paper consumption of India is 21
Million tons per year. Per capita paper consumption in India is
just around 15 kg. That means an average Indian uses around 15
kg of paper in a year. Compared to that, the world’s average is
more than 57 kg. Some developed countries are using more than
200 kg per person per year.
• Do you know the paper is one of the most recycled items? In
India, it is estimated that now around 73% of paper is being
made by paper recycling.

Indian Paper Industry at a Glance
• Total Number of mills in India: 861
• Total Production: 18.91 Million Tons
(Newsprint, Paper & Paperboard)
• Import: 3.58 Million Tons
• Export: 1.32 Million Tons
• Segment Wise Production:
Wood Based (18%) 3.46 Million Tons
Agro Based (9%) 1.73 Million Tons
Recycled Based (73%) 13.72 Million Tons
• Per Capita Consumption of Paper: 14.73 kg
Source: CPPRI, Saharanpur, India

Paper Industry & Forests
• It is generally said that trees are being cut for making paper. As
indicated earlier, around 72% of paper is now being made by
recycling waste paper. But have you thought, from where the
remaining 28% paper comes? India has been using agri-residues
(Bagasse, rice straw, sarkanda etc.); secondary wood (the wood
waste from furniture, plywood industries); and wood from
captive plantation or from farmer produces like poplar,
eucalyptus etc. Some paper is also being made using bamboo,
which has been classified as grass and not as tree in India.
Cutting forest trees for making paper is not allowed in India. In
other words, no forest trees are being cut down to make paper
in India.
• More than 90-95% of the capacity addition in paper production
in India has been based upon either waste paper or agri-
residues.
• You’d be surprised to know that paper industry does not even
appear in the list of top five causes for deforestation in India. Can
you name a few causes for deforestation in India?
• To cater the need of raw material, India imports more than 4
Million Tons of waste Paper.

Are You Worried for Trees being Cut for Making Paper?
• Please do look at the following figure-
Source: Wood is Good, A Status report by CSE, 2017, Page 11
• As you may see only 3% of wood is being used for paper,
paperboard and newsprint production. Out of it, around two-
third is being sourced from agro-forestry and social forestry.
• According to the same report, only 6.7% of wood comes from
forests, and rest from out-of-forest trees.

Water Use by Paper Industry
• You might have heard that paper industry is a big water gulper.
Many people say that to make paper equivalent to size of one A4
sheet needs 5-10 liters of water. Thanks to various water
conservation efforts by the Indian paper industry in the recent
past, most of the waste paper based mills are now using less
than 50mL of water to make paper weighing equal to one A4 size
sheet. Some mills, mainly the wood/agro based mills are using
much less than 500mL water for the same.
• Is it not funny that while many claim that you need 5-10 liter of
water to make one A4 sheet, more than 90% of the mills use less
than 100ml water for it?
• On a rough estimate, total water used by the paper mills in India
is less than the total water used for brushing teeth by all Indians.

Paper Industry & Environment
• You might have heard repeatedly that industries are a big source
of pollution. Here again, in most of the paper mills, all of the
effluent generated is treated properly, and an online system
continuously monitors its properties and sends data every
minute to government servers. If even a single parameter
deviates for more than 15 minutes, an automatic alert is
generated from government server, which has to be replied
within time, indicating the action taken report for the same. You
might be surprised to know that many mills have achieved ZLD
(Zero Liquid Discharge) and all of the wastewater generated by
these mills during the production of paper is treated and reused
again in the process.
• Our honorable Prime Minister has also highlighted the Paper
Industry’s efforts in program “Mann ki Baat” on April 24, 2016.

Strength of Paper
• An interesting parameter for strength of materials is known as
‘Breaking Length’. Breaking length is the length of material, by
which if it is suspended; the material will break due to its own
weight. The breaking length for steel is 6400 meters. It means a
steel rod or bar or strip, no matter how thick or thin it is, will
break due to gravity if a 6400 meter long uniform piece of it is
hanged from space. Well, the same for Nylon is 7040 meters. Do
you know what the strength of paper is, if it is expressed in the
same units? Different grades of paper have different strengths.
For paper used in your notebooks etc., the figure is generally
2400-3000 meters. In India, many mills are making grades of
paper which have a breaking length up to 5000-7000 meters.
• You might have enjoyed tearing paper into pieces during
childhood. Yes! Tearing strength is another important parameter
for paper. It indicates the energy required to tear the specified
length of paper.
• For kraft paper used for packing purposes, bursting strength is
important. A pressure is applied on a sample of paper, and it is
measured at what pressure, the paper ruptures.

Other Properties of Paper
• Have you ever observed a single sheet of paper against light?
Some papers look uniform, some look non-uniform or cloudy.
Yes. Formation is an important parameter for paper. The better
the formation is, the better it is.
• Have you used blotting paper? Blotting paper is used to absorb
ink if ink is spilled on paper while using a fountain pen. It absorbs
ink quickly. Paper used in making your notebooks and textbooks
generally does not absorb water (or ink) that quickly. This water
absorbency (or repellency) is controlled during manufacturing of
paper using some chemicals.
• For some grades, like facial and toilet tissues, softness is
desirable. For some other grades like for packing applications, we
need a stiff paper sheet.

Paper Dimensions and Weight
• You must have observed that copier paper generally comes in A4
or A3 sizes. The series starts with A0 (a sheet of paper having size
of √2 meter by (1/ √2) meter), and the next size is obtained when
you cut the paper in two equal rectangular sizes by cutting half
from longer side. That way, sixteen A4 size sheets have an area
of 1 square meter. In other words, one A4 size sheet has an area
of 1/16 square meter.
• Paper is mainly specified by its basis weight. Basis weight is the
weight of one square meter of paper sheet in grams, and it is
generally expressed as gsm (grams per square meter). While the
notebook paper usually has 57 gsm, tissue paper is made in 12-
18 gsm. Newspaper is generally published on 48.8 gsm paper.

Paper Production
• The paper is made on paper machine. In India, there are paper
machines running with an average speed of 250-300 mpm
(meter per minute). Can you run that fast? Do you know at what
maximum speed paper is being made in any mill in India? In one
mill here, in India, tissue paper is being made at nearly 1800
mpm. The world’s highest speed paper machine record is with
Kvarnsveden Paper Mill in Sweden. It runs at 1926 mpm.
• The largest sheet of handmade paper measuring 14.95 meter X
10 meter was made by a team of 250 Paraguay students on 7th
August 2015.

Paper for Fun
• The world record for making the most pieces of paper torn in
one minute is ripping 70 sheets in 60 seconds.
• You must have enjoyed making and flying paper planes. The
farthest flight by a paper aircraft is 69.14M by Joe Ayoob and
John M. Collins (USA), using a single sheet of uncut A4 size paper.
• The longest indoor flight time has been achieved by Takuo Toda
(Japan) by flying a plane for 29.2 seconds. Have you tried how
long or for how long a paper plane made by you go? The world’s
smallest paper airplane was folded by Teody Jasper (Philippines),
and it measured 1.1mm long.
• Hemand Upadhyay and Karan Parmar (India) used old
newspapers to create the world’s largest paper boat, which
measured 4.05 meters in length. Do you know how to make a
paper boat?
• The world record for creating ‘smallest paper envelope’is with
Mr. Amit Mukeshbhai Chauhan from Jamnagar, Gujarat, India.
On November 12, 2017, he made an envelope measuring 10.36 X
5.82mm (width and length).

• Origami is the Japanese tradition of paper-folding. It has inspired
a number of unique spacecraft designs. It's interesting to note
that it fascinates even NASA engineers. Origami can seem
deceptively simple, hiding complex math within its creases.
Besides aesthetic beauty, it has addressed a persistent problem
faced by engineers: ‘how do you pack the greatest amount of
spacecraft into the smallest volume possible?’
• A huge origami paper boat with a length of around 3.7 meter
was launched in Southwark Park Boating Lake in South London in
2015. This boat was capable of carrying one person only, and
remained in water for more than 2 hours without any noticeable
damage.
• A life size paper-boat was launched on 2nd
July 2016 during
Ireland’s national maritime festival, Sea Fest, at Gateway.
• “The One Club for Creativity Denver” organizes Paper Fashion
Show every year, in which the participant catwalk wearing only
the dresses made of paper? Well, the most recent show took
place on April 12, 2019 in Denver, Colorado, U.S. The next one is
scheduled for December 2019.

Smile Please
• Question: Many items are packed in paper. These include your
household goods, ornaments, foodstuff, gifts and this and that.
Can you name a solid product which you generally do not see
packed in paper?
Answer: Polythene Bags
• Question: Paper is widely recycled product. Your textbooks,
school notebooks, old office records, corrugated boards,
newspapers etc. are recycled after use. Which grade of paper is
generally NOT recycled after the use?
Answer: Toilet Tissue.

Research & Training in Pulp & Paper
• As the paper industry is fast growing in India, bright students
may also consider paper making as a potential profession for
them.
• For handmade paper, Kumarappa National Handmade Paper
Institute, Sanganer, Jaipur provides training programs. For
further information about these programs, you may visit
www.knhpi.org.in.
• Similarly, SJP Damla, Yamunanagar is also running several
courses for pulp & paper training. Further information about SJP
Damla can be obtained from www.sjpdamla.ac.in.
• Central Pulp & Paper Research Institute (CPPRI), a premier
research institute in the field of pulp & paper was established in
1980. A team of dedicated, experienced and renowned scientists
here develops methods to produce paper of different varieties
and better quality in a cost effective, environment friendly,
energy efficient manner. For the students who want to make
papermaking a career, CPPRI provides training also. Several
courses are being run by CPPRI for the same. For more
information about CPPRI, you may visit www.cppri.org.in.

Waste Paper Recycling Simplified
The following image is given to explain the paper manufacturing
process using recycling process.

Other Relevant Stuff for Students
Gathering the Rolling Experiences (A Collection of Management
Case Studies):
https://www.amazon.in/Gathering-Rolling-Experiences-
Collection-Management/dp/9384314714
Saving Paper:
https://paperonweb.com/Articles/Saving_Paper.ppt
Is Paper Industry a Culprit or Victim of Pollution?
https://www.slideshare.net/deveshksinghal1/is-paper-industry-
a-culprit-or-victim
Is your paper contaminated?
https://www.slideshare.net/deveshksinghal1/is-your-paper-
contaminated-with
How to Excel in Competitive Examinations:
https://www.slideshare.net/deveshksinghal1/201402-
competitive-examinations
How to Write Good Essays:
https://www.slideshare.net/deveshksinghal1/201401-writing-
goodessays

Appeal
• There are a lot of myths about paper, due to which many of us
use paper but with a guilty feeling. The purpose of this booklet
was just to clarify the doubts and bring out the true status of
Indian paper industry, as on today. I understand you might be
feeling enlightened with some information about paper. Paper is
now being used for your daily needs, for your education, for
recreation, for making your life easier, for information sharing,
for packing different products and items. Use it for any purpose
you want. But, please do not waste it. After having all these
information, may I expect you to use paper more responsibly,
and recycle after use?
Please do feel free to share this booklet with your near and dear
ones.
With Best Wishes. Always.
D K Singhal

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