[Chemistry]

[Making Recycled Paper]

This project idea comes to you from REACH in Montreal, Quebec.

 [REACH]
[Purpose:]
To show that paper can be made using many different materials other than wood, including some that you can find at home.

[Theory:]
What is paper? Paper is made from cellulose, which is in plant fibers. The cellulose is made by cutting down trees, grinding them up, and dumping the woodpulp in acid. Paper can also be recycled from other paper. Old paper is sent to factories, where it is shredded and mashed into pulp, which is then turned back into paper. Recycling uses cellulose over and over again, which saves trees from being cut down. Recycling about 54 kg of newspaper will save one tree. Recycling can also save energy because making recycled paper uses 30% to 40% less energy than producing paper from new wood pulp.

[Did you know... The world's first usable newsprint was made by a Canadian farmer in 1838. Charles Fenerty noticed some wasps chewing wood fibres to make paper for their nests, and this gave him the idea. His mechanical wood pulp process became the foundation of the Canadian pulp and paper industry!]In Canada, paper and paper products account for more than one third of the materials discarded into Canada's municipal waste stream. The Canadian government tries to encourage people to recycle some of this paper. Right now, it is estimated that less than one quarter of the 6 million tonnes of paper and paperboard used annually in Canada is recycled.

Of course, not all the paper we use can be recycled: approximately 20 percent is unavailable for recycling, for a number of reasons. Some is destroyed through fire. There are some paper products that we want to preserve permanently, like books or roofing materials. There is also some paper that is so severely contaminated that recycling is impossible or impractical. Still, a substantial proportion of the millions of tonnes of paper products entering Canada's waste stream every year could be recycled.

You can help reduce wasted paper by participating in a local recycling program in your neighbourhood or at school. You can also make your own recycled paper!

[Materials:]

[Procedure:]
  1. Soak the scrap paper in the bowl full of warm water.
  2. Staple the screening to the frame.
  3. Take the scrap paper, tear it into small pieces, and put it in a blender half-filled with water.
  4. Blend the paper until you don't see any pieces of paper. This mixture is called pulp.
  5. Pour the pulp into the tray.
  6. Dip the frame into the tray and scoop up some of the pulp onto the screen. Make sure that the screen is completely covered with pulp.
  7. Remove the frame from the tray. Put a kitchen cloth on it and flip it over so that the paper is now on a cloth on the table.
  8. Use a sponge to soak up any extra water through the screen.
  9. Very gently lift the screen up - YOU NOW HAVE PAPER!
  10. Leave the paper to dry. If you want it to dry quicker, you can ask your parents to iron it for you.
  11. If you like you can add other things to the pulp, like dried flowers, sparkles, orange peels, potato peels, broccoli, and anything that you can think of!

[Conclusions:]
The process that you followed is very similar to the way recycled paper is made. It is also similar to how new paper is made, except that the pulp comes from wood instead of from other paper. It is the fibres in wood that tangle together to make paper. If you used broccoli, then it would be the broccoli fibres that would tangle together.

You can use your homemade paper to write letters or make birthday cards for your friends and family.

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Last updated on 14 August 1998.