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Apparently, mankind has always held a desire to make marks on surfaces so that his presence on earth would be recorded. Early cave paintings and glyphs on rock surfaces were the palettes used before the advent of papermaking. The Egyptians are credited for creating Papyrus, a paper-like material used for the earliest writing. The process for making papyrus started around 4000 BC and the Egyptians kept their manufacturing methods secret. It wasn’t until the Arabs developed the easier method of using pulp for making paper that the Egyptian production of papyrus declined.
The actual beginning of papermaking, using pulp, is credited to Ts'ai-Lun of China in 105 AD. Historians now date the advent of papermaking in China to several centuries earlier. Eventually, the process spread to Japan and Korea, countries that further developed and refined papermaking. Through trade and wars, the knowledge required to make paper from pulp eventually traveled across Asia to the Middle East, where the Arabs made a decent quality writing paper from rags. In time, papermaking techniques reached Spain and Italy, where the papermaking process was perfected. Paper Online is a good information source on papermaking through the centuries.
Other sources of the history of papermaking include the following:
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History of Paper gives an overview of the history of papermaking, as well as information on the color of early papers and some of the problems faced by early papermakers.
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Paper History includes, along with historical facts, a chart of various countries and the year when papermaking began in each.
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There are many techniques for making paper. From making hand made sheets of paper in the home to making millions of sheets of paper in a huge paper processing plant, the following sites offer information on some of those techniques:
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Paper Online includes information on paper grades, the environment, pulp grades, as well as historical information.
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The Invention of Paper has a cartoon-type illustration of the process from raw material to making of pulp to screens and presses.
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Papermaking is a site that explains the papermaking process with photos.
The papermaking technology is not without its problems. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States closely monitors industrial pollutants. In the past, paper plants produced not just paper, but toxic byproducts such as wastewater, air pollution, hazardous waste, and landfill problems. Today, these environmental pollutants are being controlled in the few papermaking plants remaining in the United States. Maine Pulp & Paper: A Brief History of Papermaking gives a good overview of these problems.
Maine once led the United States in paper production. Today, many papermaking plants have been built in South America, Europe, and Asia where labor costs are significantly lower than in the United States. These new plants are also more efficient and faster than the old American plants that have had to develop niche markets in order to survive. A Brief History of Papermaking discusses this global shift in production.
A paper recycling movement in the United States has sought to save resources by asking companies and citizens to recycle paper. Today, over 50% of waste paper is recycled, saving millions of trees. The EPA’s web site, Paper Recycling, gives statistics and facts about recycling, and also lists recycling sites across the United States. Other recycling sites geared toward the education of children are Recycled Paper Information Page and Paper Recycles. When today’s children are taught to recycle and actually engage in recycling, they will create communities where recycling is second nature.
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