Recycled Paper is made from both virgin tree-fibres and recycled fibres
with one exception, and that is 100% post-consumer paper which is made from
100% recycled fibres. Therefore, trees are still cut to make most recycled
paper.
In general, fibres are separated from the other materials when paper is
recycled. The leftover "sludge" contains unwanted toxic residues
such as pigments, heavy metals and other ingredients from printing inks
and adhesives. It is estimated that 100 tonnes of recycled paper generate
40 tonnes of toxic sludge causing major disposal problems.
Finally, The quality of a recycled paper tends to be less desirable due
to shorter fibres and other impurities.
The first paper sheets (reported 105 AD in China by Ts'ai Lun) were made
from hemp fibre. During the 8th century, the Chinese papermaking craftsmanship
was transferred to Arabic and North-African countries. In fact, the first
paper mill in this part of the world was located in Baghdad. The first European
papermaking was reported in the first half of the 16th century. Until the
early 19th century,the raw material were rags. Rags are worn out clothes
made from hemp and flax (sometimes cotton) at that time. Therefore, almost
all paper in history was made from hemp and flax fibres. The first Gutenberg
bible and the first drafts of Washington's Declaration of Independence were
printed on hemp paper.
With the industrial revolution and the inventions of faster printing machines,
the demand for paper started to exceed the rag supply. This shortage threatened
the monopoly for hemp and flax as papermaking fibres. This was the eventual
push for inventors and industries to develop new processes to be able to
use the world's most abundant (and free) source of natural fibres: our forest.
Currently, only about 5% of the world's paper is made from annual plants
like hemp, flax, cotton, sugarcane, bagasse, esparto, wheat straw, reeds,
sisal, abaca, ananas and other exotic species.
Today, North America is the largest producer of pulp and paper products.
Canada is 4th in paper
production and No.1 in paper export in the world.
Industrial hemp ...
QUALITY MYTH: They jam on my copier and computer printer!
No. Our ECO-21 and ECOHEMP premium hemp papers are made
to perform smoothly in copiers, ink jet and laser printers, fax machines,
offset presses and other imaging equipments. They are not only tree-free
but also trouble-free.
PRICE MYTH: Hemp paper is too expensive!
No. Not if you consider the following things:
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