How is paper made?

Papermaking explained simply. Paper is usually made from pulp or recovered paper. Here is an overview of the manufacturing process: • Pulping: When pulp is used, the wood is broken down in a chemical or mechanical pulping process to release the fibres. • Bleaching: If white paper is required, the fibres are bleached to remove the natural colour of the wood. • Sheet formation: The fibres are then mixed with water to form a pulp suspension. This is poured onto a screen or metal plate to drain excess water and form the fibres into a thin layer. • Drying: The wet paper then passes through a series of rollers to remove excess water and dry it. • Smoothing and finishing: After drying, the paper passes through smoothing and calender rollers to smooth it and improve its surface. It can also be cut, folded, die-cut or otherwise processed to prepare it for end use.  When making paper from recovered paper, the process differs somewhat: the recovered paper is shredded, deinked and then reused to make paper. This saves raw materials and energy compared with using pulp.