Alternative Fibers
Facts and Reasons for Alternative Fibers
The pulp and paper industry uses 4 billion trees/year. (250 million tons)
This is an area 1/2 the size of Switzerland- every year.
272 million trees are used in the United States for newspapers and magazines.
(1 tree/ 1 person/ 1 year!)
A typical office worker in the US uses 10,000 sheets of paper/year.
Demand for paper is increasing by 4% a year.
So how do we protect what trees we have left?
Stop using trees!
We can susbstitute alternative fibers in paper, construction,
manufacturing and more. Incorporating different fibers is not something
we need to be forced to do. It makes sense economically, socially, and
environmentally.
Fabric Scraps
Fabric scraps come from several places. Cotton linters are the little
fibers that stick to the cotton seed when it goes through the ginning
process. Linters have long been used for high quality
paper. Paper can also be made from rags, recovered denim,
and
recovered currency. A machine will pull apart the scraps until it is just
thread again- then it is turned into pulp.
Perennial Grasses
Bamboo grows in warm temperate and tropical areas and is very versatille. It requires anywhere from 30-250"
rainfall annually, making it a feasible plant for cultivation in the southeastern
United States. It reaches maturity in 3-5 years but has a lifespan of
70-100 years. 25% of the bamboo plant can be sustainably harvested each
year. It will produce 1/2-9 tons/acre/year. 80% of China's paper is made
from bamboo.
More information:
http://www.kauai.net/bambooweb/whybamboo.html
Esparto grass grows in southern Spain and northern Africa. Its labor
intensive harvesting provides employment to a large population of nomadic
tribes. It makes very good quality paper with a high fiber density and
smoothness.
Agricultural Residues
Agricultural residues are materials left over from the production of another
crop. This includes pinzote (banana stalks), bagasse (sugarcane), flax,
and cereal straws. It costs $40/ton to pulp agrifibers whereas pulping
typical trees costs $100/ton. Agrifibers also require 25-30% less energy to pulp.
Bananas are a perennial crop frequently grown in Latin
America. Each
stalk on the plant will produce fruit only once; therefore, growers cut
off the stalk once the fruit is harvested to allow for more growth. In the past, the
stalks in Costa Rica were thrown into the nearby rivers.
However, this by-product has now been recognized as useful.
A paper company based in Miami, Florida processed 230,000 tons of Costa
Rican banana stalks last year. The stalks are grinded into sawdust,
washed to remove resins and chemicals, and drained to make pulp for
paper. It is estimated 17 trees are saved for every ton of banana paper used.
For more information:
Costa Rica Natural 1-800-777-3378
Costa Rica Natural/AE
Natural
Bagasse is a sugarcane stalk after the sugar has been extracted. Since a dip in the sugar market, many countries have tried to use
the bagasse for products other rather than fuel or waste. Paper, animal feed, and other uses have been developed. It's
fiber is weaker than other nonwood alternatives but it can be mixed with
other fibers to strengthen it.
Flax has been used for thousands of years. It is grown for seed and the
straw left afterwards is what is used to make paper, linen fabic, and
thread. It can be grown as far north as Canada, but there is a limited
demand for the seeds.
Cereal straw is what is left from the cultivation of wheat, rye, rice,
corn, etc. It is the most abundant ag fiber in the world. 100 million
tons of wheat straw is available in the US each year. Currently, much of
it is being burned, but laws are passing to ban burning in an effort to prevent further
air pollution. 1/3 of the US straw supply
could produce 25 million tons of pulp.
More information:
http://www.simplelife.com/fieldsofreams/002.html
http://www.naa.org/tnews/tn961112/p19agrif.html
Fiber Crops
Ramie, sisal, abaca, industrial hemp, and kenaf are plants grown
specifically for their fiber; the stalks are the main product instead of a
by-product. Ramie, or China grass, originated in tropical Asia. Sisal
grows in Central America. Abaca, also known as manila hemp, is related to
the banana plant.
These have not received as much attention in the US as
kenaf and
industrial hemp however. In the 1950's, the USDA conducted an extensive study of
nonwood alternatives; kenaf came up number one out of 500 plants. It continues to be a promising alternative to trees.
More on kenaf
Representing 4.6 million members, the American Farm Bureau unanimously passed a resolution at its 77th annual convention which endorses research of industrial hemp's potential in the United States.
More on industrial hemp:
http://geocities.datacellar.net/Hollywood/Boulevard/2200/ind_hemp_info.html
http://www.ran.org/ran_campaigns/rain_wood/wood_con/hemp_fact.html
http://www.earthisland.org/paper/hemp.html
http://web.spinners.on.ca/reed/reed06.htm
General References on Alternative Fibers
Rethink Paper (Including manufacturers of paper)
http://www.earthisland.org/paper/rtp.html
An EXCELLENT overview of alternative fibers
http://www.pma-online.org/newsmay1.html
An overview of some alternative fibers including advantages and
disadvantages of pulping
http://www.paperfo.com/consumer/treefree.htm
TTIC- Technical Transfer Information Center through the USDA- You can search
for information on alternative fibers.
http://www.nal.usda.gov/ttic/tektran/fsearchV3.html
Purdue's Newcrop Index (or you can search)
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/Indices/index_ab
Obstacles to the Widespread Use of Alternative Fibers
- Conversion of mills, though in most cases not difficult, takes
investment.
- Demand for alternative fiber products is low, so cost is high.
- The common thought is that paper is made from trees; demand will
remain low until people know it's out there.
- Below-cost timber sales and other government subsidies make it
extremely difficult for nonwood supplies to compete.
- Many paper companies are vertically integrated so they have a vested
interest in maintaining the idea that paper comes from trees.
What You Can Do!
- Educate colleages, friends, family, legislators, and procurement officials.
- Find out what fibers are best
suited to your area
- Drop off Rethink
Paper's postcards to vendors.
- Urge legislators to decrease wood pulp subsidies.
- Convince your legislators to use it for letterheads.
- Convince your office or university to use it for letterhead.
- Bring your own paper when you make copies.
- Ask paper companies to incorporate alternative fibers in their production lines.
- Join with other offices or municipalities nearby to jointly buy bulk kenaf paper to lower the cost.
- Christmas presents!
- Talk to business owners in your community.
- Help shatter the idea that paper comes only from trees!