LISTENING STUDY Question 46:
Are tree free fibers appropriate for all types of printing and writing paper?

LISTENING STUDY: Some respondents discussed the question broadly, while others gave examples.

General Comments

It would be difficult to group entire agricultural fibers into one category. Some agricultural fibers do have problems, but the answer is yes. - James S. Han, Research Chemist, USDA Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory

They can be, especially when used in combination with other fibers. - Jeff Lindenthal, President, Green Field Paper Company

No. Fiber characteristics such as length and width determine its applicability to various forms of paper. - Tom Rymsza, President, Vision Paper

Yes. Ideally a selected blend of fibers is the best. For example, hemp and flax, which are long fibers, add strength to shorter fibers such as post-consumer waste or straw residue.
      Bamboo (Bambusa species) is a grass whose bio-attributes are similar to pine. It is one of the main nonwood fibers used in India. Esparto Grass (Stipa tanacissima) in papermaking is best known for its porosity and strong dimensional stability. Flax straw from the linseed oil industry has been used for the manufacture of cigarette paper and other high quality papers.
      Abaca of Manila Hemp is a leaf fiber, a member of the banana family, and makes an extremely strong pulp with high tear and tensile strength. Abaca is used for marine cordage, Japanese shoji screens, abrasive backing papers, and tea bags. - Living Tree Paper Company

There are no fundamental barriers. It is a matter of appropriate choice of agri-fibers, pulping technology and papermaking technologies. Furthermore, the spectrum of agri-fiber is very broad; thus, the range of paper products that could be made is also large. Certain types of paper can not be made with the use of wood pulp only.
      See for example, my presentations, "Extension of Canada's Softwood Resources," "Agri-Pulp Newsprint," "Experience in the Technical and Market Development of Agri-Pulp Printing Papers in North America," "Selected Physical Properties of Blends of Wood Pulp and Alkaline Sulphite Flax Straw Pulp," "Alkaline Sulphite Pulping of Hesperaloe, An Arid-Zone Native Fiber Plant from Northern Mexico," and "Alkaline sulphite pulping of abaca (Musa textiles Nee) from the Philippines and Ecuador." - Al Wong, Founder, Arbokem

Kenaf is appropriate for all types of paper. - Tom Rymsza, President, Vision Paper

Ag-residues from cereal crops tend to have shorter fibers that are good for smooth surfaces. Ag-residues from flax, hemp and bagasse tend to have longer fibers for strength. Blending of non-woods with appropriate levels of recycled fibers and FSC virgin wood pulp offers opportunities to meet the needs of practically all paper production. - Jeanne Trombly, Fiber Futures

No, printing and writing papers gain their smooth texture from short fibers derived from hardwood trees, and their strength from long fibers derived from softwood trees. Agricultural fibers come in a variety of lengths and diameters, and other characteristics (toughness, bond strength, etc.) are also variable. Some such fibers can be used successfully in printing and writing papers; others are restricted to packaging uses. Our ability to blend long and short wood fibers, however, enables us to make consistently high quality papers for these applications. - International Paper

Right now, because of cost structures, 100% tree free papers are not practical to replace high-volume, lower-cost papers. It's better to start becoming familiar with tree-free papers in high-visibility, lower-volume applications. Applications like brochures, envelopes, stationery, and report papers can help overcome the price barrier.
      Some barriers are real and some perceived. The perception that recycled papers are dusty and clog up the machines is not necessarily true.
      Tree-free papers by themselves are not appropriate for many applications. But these fibers can add significant performance enhancements when they are included as part of the total fiber mix.
      This gets back to earlier comments about diversity of fiber supply. I would like to see more mixed fiber papers that have ag residues and post-consumer fiber. We are always going to need trees in paper - they're not going away. I don't have a vision of a paper industry without trees. - Peter Hopkins, Environmental Papers Consultant for Crane Paper Company, Gargan Communications

Nonwoods are just like any other fiber source: you need the right mix of short and long. The nonwood papers can be used in many grades of paper depending on the percentage put into the mix.
      The nonwoods might have lower levels of bonding. Some woods are better than nonwoods in their ability to stick to each other in the formation of the sheet. Under a microscope the better bonding fibers have rougher edges - that makes them stick together better. - Jeff Mendelsohn, President, New Leaf Paper

No, not all. Essentially all economically viable nonwood fibers have short average fiber length. This means that they can be substituted for hardwood pulps but not for softwood pulps. Practically all papers are made from a mix of fibers. Some, but very few, are 100% hardwood; normally the maximum hardwood use is 80%. Many papers are 100% softwood, or maximum 20% hardwood (newsprint, magazine printing papers).
      Nonwood fibers could be used to replace hardwood in many writing papers and copy paper. They would work in coated white papers such as used in high grade printing for annual reports and high quality catalogs. Eventually a small content in newsprint (10%) might be possible and perhaps 20-30% in light weight coated and SC grades for magazine and catalog printing.
      Each fiber type and pulping process has unique characteristics that add or subtract from the quality of the paper. Plant fibers are different than wood fibers in many ways. Many plant fibers form a denser paper sheet than wood fibers; this can be desirable in some papers and undesirable in others. Plant fibers also tend to give paper with poorer opacity than hardwood fibers. While this can be corrected with pigments and fillers, it may affect the economics. - Michael Jackson, Consultant, Tolovana Park, OR

The market and performance will bring this out, but theoretically any agricultural fiber can be made into wood type products. - Peter A. Nelson, President, AgroTech Communications, Inc.

The chemical and physical properties of fibers determine their suitability for use in paper. When the USDA evaluated alternative crops for paper in 1960, they considered performance in three general areas:

• Chemical composition including percentage of cellulose in the fiber and solubility in sodium hydroxide. Plants with high solubility in sodium hydroxide (>39%) do not yield acceptable pulp.
• Dimensions and yield of fibrous consituents
• Physical and visual appearance of the plants which included estimates of the strength and proportion of bast fibers and the texture of the woody portion in each plant.

- Environmental Defense Fund Paper Task Force, White Paper 13, "Non-Wood Fiber Sources"

It is technically possible to make high quality paper out of almost any kind of fiber. Although virtually all paper in the U.S., as well as most paper worldwide, is made of wood fiber that has not always been the case. For example paper was invented in China in A.D. 105, but it was not until about 1850 that wood began to be used as a principal raw material for papermaking. Today, about 12 percent of paper worldwide is made of nonwood fiber, primarily from wheat straw, bagasse (sugar cane residue) and bamboo. - Dr. Jim L. Bowyer, et al, Dovetail Partners

Let's start with agricultural residues. Generally, they are analogous in composition and functionality to post consumer recycled content because the fibers are fairly short. The fiber length can compromise strength but can have the advantage of increased opacity. The greater opacity allows a lower basis weight.
      For mechanically-pulped whole stalk kenaf, the fibers are quite analogous to mechanically pulped wood. The former can be a functional equivalent for groundwood fiber, in applications such as newspapers and telephone books.
      For chemically pulped fibers, kenaf can offer modest advantages from a functional point of view. The same opacity can be achieved with up to 10% less pulp. - Richard Denison, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Environmental Defense

The potential of non-wood fibers as a fiber source for paper . . . is both site-specific and grade-specific. - Environmental Defense Fund Paper Task Force, White Paper 13, "Non-Wood Fiber Sources"

For most of its history, paper was made from non-wood fibers. Traditional fiber sources for paper were old rags and other textile wastes. Wood became the major fiber source for paper in the mid 1800s. - Environmental Defense Fund Paper Task Force, White Paper 13, "Non-Wood Fiber Sources"

LISTENING STUDY: Some gave examples of specific papers made with nonwood fibers, including other types beyond printing and writing papers.

With the cooperation of seven newspapers, Al Wong of Arbokem developed a test newsprint that was 68 percent de-inked old newspapers, 12 percent thermo-mechanical wood pulp (which is crushed with grinders using steam at high pressures and temperatures), 11 percent ryegrass straw pulp, six percent rice straw pulp and three percent red fescue straw pulp. Some 200 tons of this mixed-origin newsprint were produced and test-printed at such newspapers as the Los Angeles Times, the San Jose Mercury-News and the Sacramento Bee.
      The experiment was successful. Sue Dorchak, quality-assurance manager at the Mercury-News, says her company had evaluated the agri-fiber's strength, appearance, runability and ability to take ink, and found only a tiny difference. She said the newspaper was both "enthused and optimistic," but the experiment was not repeated (despite projections that the agri-pulp for newsprint would actually be cheaper than wood pulp product at a certain scale).
      . . . Kenaf was first used in a print run by the Peoria Journal Star in 1977, after the federal Agricultural Research Service (ARS), based in Peoria, laid the groundwork through technological feasibility studies. ARS proclaimed kenaf to be its top alternative fiber candidate for pulp and papermaking. The American newspaper Publishers Association became interested in kenaf and produced a feasibility study in 1981. A joint venture company, Kenaf International, was also formed at that time.
      Unfortunately, once the efficacy of kenaf for newsprint was demonstrated in Illinois, ARS effectively moved on to other projects. - Jim Motovalli, "The Paper Chase"

. . . [R]esearch eventually led to a blend of chemical and mechanical bagasse pulp from which a fully acceptable 100 percent bagassse newsprint sheet was produced in Crown Zellerbach tests. Previous failures of other projects, however, had led to an inability to obtain financing for pilot mils, and Crown Zellerbach ultimately never commercialized the process. - Maureen Smith, The U.S. Paper Industry and Sustainable Production

A positive example is Living Tree's paper - it's 10% tree- free and the rest is post-consumer. Good for them! They have wonderful environmental papers. The post-consumer content brings price down dramatically and removes the huge barrier to entry. - Peter Hopkins, Environmental Papers Consultant for Crane Paper Company, Gargan Communications

Arundo Donax papers are appropriate for all papers: Xerox-grade on down to corrugated mediums and newsprint. Most people have the most money in wood. - Ernett Altherimer, Founder and Chairman, Nile Fiber

In an informal run, some of the environmental papers did not perform as well with digital printing. We did not do a direct comparison with virgin tree sheets and agricultural papers, only recycled money, denim, post consumer waste, and kenaf. The digital printing uses toner rather than inks; therefore the results were crisper and less cloudy on the coated papers and those with a low porosity. However, in many cases the recyclers don't prefer the coated papers as they pay by weight and don't want to pay for the extra weight from the clay coating. The clay is a waste product, and quite heavy so the purchaser gets less usable fiber.
      The post-consumer waste paper did the best. Digital printing is probably better environmentally, but it might discourage the tree-free paper industry. Purchasers might be misdirected if they hold onto printing on nonwood papers and have to switch back to ink printing. The environmental impacts might actually be worse.
      We need to really understand the markets and products. The industry needs to know the performance attributes that must be met for each product. They must understand the cost of competing markets. Models should be run to determine if the tree-free paper can be priced competitively for the same performance. There are not many who will pay a lot more for something that does not perform as well.
      Many of the alternative fiber paper sellers seem to understand the niches. If they need more than a niche market, they need in depth cost analyses. First the product must be proven technically. Many producers make it this far, but break down when they need to supply it on market for a competitive price. - Russell Clark, Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program, US EPA

From Hurter 2001:
The current uses of nonwood pulps include virtually every grade of paper produced including:

• printing and writing papers
• linerboard
• corrugating medium
• newsprint
• tissue
• specialty papers

      Typically, common nonwood pulps or hardwood substitutes are produced in integrated pulp and paper mills, and softwood Kraft or sulfite pulp is added to provide the strength requirements to the paper. However, specialty nonwood pulp may be used instead of softwood Kraft or sulfite pulp thus producing a 100% nonwood paper. And, in some cases, wastepaper pulp may be blended in the furnish. The nonwood portion of the furnish typically varies from 20 to 90% and can be even up to 100% depending on the paper grade and required quality. The possible combinations are endless and can be adjusted to meet market requirements.
      Furthermore, it is possible to add small quantities (up to 20 - 30%) of common nonwood pulps to primarily woodpulp-based papers without impairing paper properties or paper machine runnability. This provides wood-based mills which are hardwood deficient but located within a region with available nonwood fiber resources such as cereal straw or corn stalks with the option of adding-on a nonwood pulping line to supplement their fiber requirements.
      Typically, the specialty nonwoods have physical properties superior to softwoods and can be used in lower amounts in the furnish when used as a softwood substitute. Specialty papers such as currency, cigarette papers, tea bags, dialectric paper etc. may be made from a furnish of 100% nonwood specialty pulps. Specialty pulps also may be used in combination with woodpulp to produce lightweight and ultra-lightweight printing and writing papers.
      Combinations of common and specialty nonwood pulps will permit the production of virtually any grade of paper to meet any quality requirements demanded in the global market. Adding possible combinations which include wood pulp, nonwood pulp and recycled wastepaper pulp increases the possibilities for developing paper with specific sheet properties designed to meet specific customers needs.
      The following table provides some uses for nonwood pulps in papermaking. It is by no means complete as many nonwood plant raw materials could be added to the table as well as products listed for each of the nonwood plant fiber raw materials identified. Rather this table provides an indication of the many possibilities which are available for the use of nonwood plant fibers in papermaking. When reviewing this table, please note:
      The nonwood fiber in the furnish is chemical pulp unless noted otherwise. In all cases for the balance of furnish, "Kraft" or "sulfite" means Kraft or sulfite chemical pulp made from softwoods, and bleached, semi-bleached or unbleached depending on the type of paper or paperboard. The term "woodpulp" is used when either softwood Kraft or softwood sulfite chemical pulp or a mixture of the two may be used. In some cases, where the nonwood fiber content of the furnish is low or the nonwood fiber is very strong, part of the furnish may be hardwood Kraft together with softwood Kraft and/or softwood sulfite. - Hurter 2001

We have been making kenaf pulp and paper for 10 years, and know that high quality paper products can be produced using the whole kenaf stalk, and without using chlorine bleaching. David Brower's last book, "Let the Mountains Talk, Let the Rivers Run," was printed by RR Donnelley using 100% kenaf, totally chlorine free Vision Paper. Also, kenaf is big in Japan, where half the paper companies use kenaf in some of the products they produce. The current issue of E Magazine (May/June 2004) covers paper and the articles (pages 25-40) are printed on a kenaf recycled blend paper that I produced. - Tom Rymsza, President, Vision Paper

In 2004, according to Conservatree's Environmentally Sound Paper Listings, the following non-wood fibers are used in printing and writing papers available in North America:

• Agricultural residues - domestic cotton linters and flax; imported bagasse, banana stalk, coffee beans, seaweed, and tobacco,
• On-purpose crops - Canadian and imported hemp, domestic kenaf,
• Pre- or postconsumer textiles or products - denim, currency, cotton and linen clothing production scraps (a minute amount from organic cotton).

We believe there is also a minute amount of bagasse in a few tissue products. - Susan Kinsella, Conservatree

From Environmental Defense Fund Paper Task Force, White Paper 13, "Non-Wood Fiber Sources":

Agricultural Residues: Cereal Straw

Overall Assessment: High potential for papermaking

• Large quantities of this additional source of short fiber are currently available.
• Solutions exist for technical challenges in acquiring and pulping straw.

Advantages:

• Good source of short fiber.
• Readily available in large quantities.
• Beneficial use of waste material.
• Fiber acquisition and pulping costs are similar to those for wood.
• Chemical pulping processes do not require sulfur.

Disadvantages:

• Requires a dedicated pulping process with a digester designed to pulp straw.
• High silica and hemicellulose content of straw makes black liquor difficult to recover.
• Must produce pulp at an integrated paper mill because the properties of the straw pulp deteriorate if the pulp is dried before use.

Kenaf (whole-stalk)

Overall Assessment: High potential for papermaking

• High quality, high brightness mechanical pulp for newsprint and uncoated "groundwood" directory grades.
• Environmental and economic performance is competitive with wood for these uses.

Advantages:

• Pulp yield per acre for kenaf-based mechanical pulp is on average about 60% higher than that for plantation Southern pine-based mechanical pulp.
• Total and purchased energy consumed to pulp whole-stalk kenaf is about 35% lower than that consumed to pulp Southern pine.
• Fiber costs are competitive with softwood.
• Capital and operating costs to build and operate a mill that produces mechanical kenaf pulp should be competitive with costs of a wood-based mill.

Disadvantages:

• On average, kenaf requires more fertilizer per acre than trees do; farmers may have to use irrigation to achieve high yields.
• Opportunity to introduce kenaf as a rotational crop is limited to California and southern states.
• Scale-up of fiber production to commercial scale (e.g., harvesting 40,000 acres of kenaf rather than 4,000) may require changes in harvesting practices or genetic engineering of the kenaf plant to facilitate earlier harvesting.
• Kenaf fields can be expected to provide less water quality protection; plant and animal habitat and overall species diversity; and recreational value than do tree plantations.

Kenaf (separated bast and core fibers)

Overall Assessment: Low potential for papermaking

• Separating kenaf bast and core fibers gives papermakers the most flexibility to produce a range of high quality papers.
• Environmental and economic performance indicate that separated kenaf fibers are more appropriate for products other than paper.

Advantages:

• High opacity and bulk allow reduction of basis weight by about 10% to achieve similar performance as wood-based paper.
• Chemical pulping processes do not require sulfur.
• The total energy consumed to produce a ton of kenaf bleached soda pulp was about 34% lower than the energy consumed to produce a ton of wood bleached kraft pulp.

Disadvantages:

• Pulp yield per acre for bast fiber as reinforcing pulp or combinations of bast and core for printing and writing paper are the same or lower than the yield for the equivalent woodbased products.
• Kenaf requires more fertilizer per acre than trees do; farmers may have to use irrigation to achieve high yields.
• Kenaf fields can be expected to provide less water quality protection; plant and animal habitat and overall species diversity; and recreational value than do tree plantations.
• Opportunity to introduce kenaf as a rotational crop is limited to California and southern states.
• The additional cost to separate the kenaf fibers makes them uncompetitive with wood for papermaking.
• Existing information about environmental performance of mills that produce kenaf chemical pulp does not demonstrate improved environmental performance for these mills as compared to wood-based kraft mills.
  • The purchased energy consumed to produce the kenaf pulp is at least 50% higher than the energy consumed to produce wood pulp.
  • Effluent flow and quality (BOD, COD and TSS loading in final effluent) are similar for both types of mills.

Hemp (separated bast and core fibers)

Overall Assessment: Low potential for papermaking

• Effective pulping processes are in early stages of development.
• Environmental and economic performance indicate that hemp fibers are more appropriate for products other than paper.

Advantages:

• Hemp bast fibers can add significant tensile and tear strength to paper because of their fiber length.
• Hemp could be grown throughout the United States because it is not a tropical plant; however, under current law it is illegal to hemp in United States.

Disadvantages:

• Pulp yield per acre for bast fiber as reinforcing pulp is lower than the yield for the equivalent wood-based products.
• Hemp requires more fertilizer per acre than trees do; farmers may have to use irrigation to achieve high yields.
• Hemp fields can be expected to provide less water quality protection; plant and animal habitat and overall species diversity; and recreational value than do tree plantations.
• Window to harvest hemp for fiber is very narrow.
  • If harvested too early, plants may be immature and yield will be low.
• If harvested too late, fibers become too coarse to use in paper products.
• Whole-stalk and bast fiber costs are higher for hemp than for kenaf.
• Hemp bast fibers must be cut before pulping to facilitate processing (long fibers tend to get caught in the digester).
• The lignin in hemp bast fiber is difficult to remove using chemical pulping processes.
• Mechanical pulping processes have not been commercialized - only laboratory-scale testing has been conducted.
  • Performance of hemp bast fiber mechanical pulps are similar to softwood bleached chemithermomechanical pulps (BCTMP); performance of whole-stalk mechanical pulps are similar to those from deinked office waste.
  • Performance-to-cost ratio of hemp mechanical pulps is much lower than that of softwood BCTMP or deinked pulp from office waste.

- Environmental Defense Fund Paper Task Force, White Paper 13, "Non-Wood Fiber Sources"