CHAPTER VIII
TURNING WASTES INTO PAPER
Paper has been described as the World’s Friend. Truly the application is apt, when we recall the varied, and, in some instances, almost incredible uses to which it is put, from carpets to boxes, wheels of infinite variety to artificial flowers, table linen to boards. Little wonder, therefore, that we have come to regard it as indispensable to our everyday social and industrial existence. Being cheap, abundant and easy to obtain, is it surprising that we became extravagant in its use? We scarcely ever hesitate to bestow even a passing thought as to where, and how, we get it. We talk glibly of “imported” without pausing a moment to reflect upon the real significance of the expression. It was not until war burst upon us to deliver its many disconcerting jolts that we came to our senses, and were then compelled to acknowledge that while paper may be a most tractable servant it is certainly a tyrannous master.
How many people would credit the statement that paper could exercise any influence upon the cost of living? Not one in a thousand it is safe to hazard. But let us reflect. In the days when paper or cardboard was forthcoming in plenty the tradesman never contemplated for a moment the suggestion that he should be sparing in his use of the commodity, or even saddle his customer with the cost of this indispensable wrapping material. What if a sheet of brown paper cost a farthing—half a cent—or paper bags could be secured for ten a penny (2 cents)? The expense was so trivial as to be insignificant. He could readily shoulder it without any financial detriment to himself. But when that sheet of paper cost approximately 1³⁄₄d.—3¹⁄₂ cents—or when the bag involved an outlay of 1¹⁄₂d.—3 cents—the tradesman, turning over in his mind the huge quantities he would be compelled to provide during the business of the day, regarded the whole question in a different spirit. He declined to bear the burden, and so promptly passed it on to the customer.
To grasp the paper situation as it affects this island kingdom we must hark back to the glorious days preceding 1914. We made paper upon a relatively extensive scale in our own mills, and the industry flourished amazingly. But to what extent did indigenous materials enter into the composition of the article? Barely 10 per cent. We preferred to buy 90 per cent. of our raw materials from foreign mills brought into existence for this especial purpose, and, be it remarked en passant, the foreigner found it highly lucrative to trade upon our disinclination to prepare the products ourselves.
A British firm, which had built huge mills in Scandinavia for the preparation of the essential raw material, disposed of its financial interests to a foreign concern. The bargain was settled for a round £7,000,000—$35,000,000! Surely this transaction suffices to demonstrate that there is big money to be made preparing paper pulp, as the raw material is called, for British paper mills. The fact that in pre-war days we imported a round 2,000,000 tons of pulp and paper during the course of the year serves to convey some idea of the magnitude of the industry, and the extent to which this country became dependent upon foreign sources of supply.
One hundred years ago, or even less, the British paper-making industry was a staple. The paper was British made from British materials. In the light of this knowledge one may well ask why, and how, we allowed this profitable trade to slip through our fingers? The cause was not far to seek. Our old pugnacious friend the wasp was primarily responsible for the passing of this British industry. He, from his paper-making prowess in the fabrication of his wonderful nest, set certain imaginative men thinking hard. If this humble insect could contrive such a remarkably tough and stout paper for home-building purposes from wood surely it was not beyond the wit of men, with the bewildering array of mechanical and chemical handmaids at his elbow, to do likewise!
Accordingly the observant, fertile, and patient minds went to work. Within a short time they not only succeeded in imitating the wasp, but evolved such a simple process in the doing of it as to make an irresistible appeal to commerce. Incidentally while this one line of investigation, the purely mechanical, was being pursued other equally brilliant minds were perfecting a second means of achieving a similar end by mechanical-chemical agency. In this manner commerce became equipped with two efficient means for the reduction of trees into paper, and at such a low figure as to render the conventional competitive methods impossible, at least for the cheapest grades of paper, such as are employed for our newspapers, popular periodicals, and low-priced books.
To reap the rich rewards which invention dangled before commerce only two fundamental requirements had to be fulfilled. The one was ample cheap power in close proximity to virtually inexhaustible supplies of the essential material, namely soft woods, which constituted the second factor. Scandinavia held unrivalled attractions in this respect. Accordingly the princes of the paper-making industry trekked to Norway and Sweden, to convenient points amid the endless reaches of forest, and there planted huge mills beside waterfalls and swiftly running rivers, which were harnessed to provide the cheap power which hydro-electric energy offered. The outlook was additionally alluring from the circumstance that these mills, metaphorically speaking, could be established within the proverbial stone’s throw of the biggest and most promising markets of the world.
So Scandinavia succeeded in building up a rich monopoly which experienced continuous prosperity until a few years ago. Then similar activity became manifest in certain corners of Farther Britain, notably in Newfoundland, Eastern Canada, and British Columbia, where, owing to the prevailing climatic conditions favouring huge reserves of suitable forests, ribbed with abundant water power, a bold bid was made, not only for the European but the American markets as well. For the first time in its history the Scandinavian interests were brought full tilt against powerful competition.
With the advent of the halfpenny newspaper, the popular periodical, and the cheap edition of a favourite author, all of which depend upon mammoth circulations for their financial successes, the wood-pulp industry received a tremendous boom. In 1913 British imports from Scandinavia aggregated 756,252 tons valued at £3,533,509—$17,667,545. Germany, attracted by the glamour of the commercial possibilities held out in this direction, essayed to participate in the boom, her exports of pulp to these islands during the above-mentioned year reaching 40,972 tons worth £330,456—$1,697,280. In comparison with the figure for Scandinavia the Teuton contribution may appear small, but it must not be forgotten that this represented a 50 per cent. increase in Germany’s favour within two years. During the year in question Canada and Newfoundland also swelled the home market, the aggregate of pulp and paper accepted from their mills by Britain being 119,742 tons valued at £279,374—$1,396,870.
Then came the war, and this upset the upward tendency of the foreign manufacturers to an alarming degree, as well as causing distinct stringency among ourselves. Germany was knocked out of the market in one blow, while the demand for shipping likewise extinguished the Canadian contributions. Then came the appointment of a Controller to adjust the Scandinavian situation, and official action in regard to restrictions, which were admittedly severe, threw the Scandinavian industry all sixes and sevens. Some idea of the degree to which the imports of paper and pulp from Scandinavia were hit may be gathered from the figures for 1918—390,000 tons as compared with the pre-war supply of 2,000,000 tons, representing a fall of 82 per cent.
The situation at home assumed an ominous aspect. Cutting off imports reduced supplies to a figure hopelessly below demand. The issue was further aggravated from the circumstance that the domestic industry had not been advanced to the position where it could take up the producing reins to make up the deficiency. The output from British mills during 1918 only approximately equalled the importation for the year, and was less than double the figure at which it stood five years before, which was about 200,000 tons.
In these circumstances the Controller was called upon to make a round 700,000 tons of paper go as far as had 2,000,000 in pre-war days. As a matter of fact the last-named figure was short of the mark, for the simple reason that sources of consumption, and heavy ones at that, which had been non-existent five years previously had sprung up and were in the full blaze of activity. I refer to the various Government departments created as a direct result of the war.
Where does all the paper go? To the lay mind this question appears impossible of a comprehensive answer. He concedes that the publishing and commercial worlds, from the magnitude of their operations, must absorb colossal quantities, but this reflection does not bring complete comfort. During the war period it was not so difficult to reduce the apparent enigma to simple explanation. The Stationery Office devoured paper to the extent of 57,000 tons a year. The Ministry of Munitions absorbed 1,000 tons a week in the actual manufacture of missiles, one use being the substitution of aluminium by paper for filling the tips of bullets, while fuse cylinders were also contrived from paper instead of from tin. The Ministry of Food called for 400 to 500 tons of paper to provide the cards for sugar, meat and butter rations, while the issuance of the subsequent ration books ran away with another 750 tons. The War Office was probably the heaviest consumer, from the simple fact that all jams and preserves issued to the army, and packed in one-pound consignments, were served in paper cartons instead of tins. Seeing that the quantities of jams issued in this manner ran into millions, the consumption of paper for the containers was stupendous. Such zealous and ingenious recourse to paper instead of metals for such purposes was readily explicable. For instance, at the time, tin was costing about £320—$1,600—per ton as compared with brown paper at £35—$175—and cardboard at £50—$250—per ton respectively. It was to the advantage of the nation to abandon costly metals whenever and wherever a paper substitute was equally serviceable.
To counteract the shortage in supplies from abroad every effort was made to extend and to develop the domestic manufacturing facilities. This was not such a simple task as it appeared, inasmuch as we are sadly lacking in the reserves of the necessary material. We possess no soft-wood forests waiting to be turned into paper. In these circumstances the alternative was to embark upon a voyage of discovery and experiment in the hope that an efficient inexpensive range of substitutes might be unearthed to take the place of the imported wood-pulp, either exclusively, which was scarcely to be expected, or to a very pronounced degree.
Official intervention brought home to us one very heavy wastage. This was in regard to the pulp which we imported. Two different kinds of pulp are produced abroad: The one, produced after the manner practised by our friend the wasp, but by mechanical agency, is known as mechanical pulp; the other, contrived by the aid of chemicals, is commercially known as chemical or sulphite pulp. In so far as the first named was concerned official investigation revealed that the Scandinavian mills were accustomed to send the article in a wet form. Now, seeing that wet pulp comprises 50 per cent. of moisture, it will be seen that the vessels bearing this commodity—and tonnage was severely limited—were really working only to one-half of their actual carrying capacity. With every ton of pulp the ships were compelled to carry one ton of water, and to ship water to Britain is comparable with sending snow to Greenland.
The Scandinavian mills were more than willing to ship wet pulp by the thousands of tons, and the British paper-makers were every whit as ready to receive it. To obtain the raw material in this form facilitated, expedited and cheapened the actual paper-making process. It was another instance of British readiness to sacrifice every other interest upon the altars of cheapness and minimum of effort. The Controller, naturally, demurred against paying freight for the carriage of water which is only too abundant in these islands, and forthwith demanded that the pulp should be sent over in the dry form. In this manner he achieved a laudable object: he doubled the quantity of pulp supplied to Britain without calling upon a further ton of shipping for the purpose.
The pulp-makers of Scandinavia, and the paper-makers of Britain, objected to this rational action. Strong protests were levelled against the new order. The affected interests went to great length to explain that the wet pulp was essential, and advanced their reasons—technical, financial and otherwise, but they failed to upset the decision which had been made. The Controller was not seeking the unattainable, because a certain proportion of dry mechanical pulp has always been shipped to this country. It was merely another instance of affected interests desiring to achieve their respective purposes along the lines of least resistance. In no circumstances, normal or war, can the conveyance of water with raw material to these islands be justifiable.
The reason why the pulp-maker was so anxious to ship his pulp wet was because under such conditions he could market it at a lower figure and dispatch it with greater facility. The paper-maker championed the wet form for the reason that it was more convenient to him; he was able to turn it straightaway into his machines. But when imported dry the pulp must be subjected to certain preliminary treatment which involves time, trouble, and a certain expense. Consequently, out of 100 tons of mechanical pulp normally shipped to Britain, only one ton was in the dry form; the other 99 tons were in the more handy wet form. Certainly there are accepted technical objections to dry pulp. It is brittle and apt to chip. But wet or dry it cannot be used exclusively and solely in the preparation of even the lowest grades of newspaper. A certain proportion of the chemical pulp must be added to impart the requisite degree of firmness and stoutness to the fabric.
A little investigation reveals why the Scandinavian pulp-makers were firmly set upon shipping the pulp wet. In pre-war days the British paper-maker paid from £2 5s. to £2 10s.—$11.25 to $12.50—a ton for the moist pulp delivered at a British port. Freight was a mere bagatelle, averaging about 5s.—$1.25—per ton. To convert the wet into dry pulp prior to shipment the Swedish pulp-makers must use coal. This, thanks to hydro-electric energy, is not required in the fabrication of the actual pulp. But Sweden is deficient in coal resources and compliance with the British official request involved the importation of British coal. Inasmuch as it takes from 1,120 to 1,680 lb. of coal to dry one ton of pulp it will be seen that the Swedish manufacturers were faced with a fuel bill which was likely to run into big figures. Under war conditions British coal was expensive, while quality was subject to wide variation. At that time the coal commanded from £8 to £10—$40 to $50—per ton in Sweden. Consequently, to his disgust, the pulp-maker was confronted with the necessity to incur an extra manufacturing charge ranging from £4 to £8—$20 to $40—per ton of pulp produced.
It is to be feared that the Swedish manufacturers, while anxious to sell as much as possible to, were very reluctant to buy, from these islands. They denounced the British official decree in no unmeasured terms, and sought by every means in their power to secure its withdrawal. But for once British authority was not solicitous of the interests of the foreigner. Recognizing the futility of protest the Scandinavian makers set to work to comply with our demands, and so shipped the pulp in the dry form. We received the benefits accruing from this line of action because we received twice as much pulp as formerly for the same amount of tonnage. True, it cost us more, the price running up to £32—$160—per ton, but it is to be feared that the foreign manufacturers took full advantage of the peculiar situation which prevailed in accordance with that inexorable law of supply and demand, although they maintained that their manufacturing charges were heavily inflated, not only from the purchase of the necessary coal, but from the higher wages which labour demanded. But even at the above figure we derived distinct advantage. Seeing that one ton of dry represented the equivalent to two tons of wet pulp we were really paying at the rate of only £16—$80—per ton, less the sum which had to be deducted from the sale of our coal. Restriction of freight had a good deal to do with the enhanced prices. Only 250,000 tons of shipping a year were allocated to this traffic, and what cost 5s.—$1.25—a ton to ship in 1913 cost £13—$65 per ton in 1918. British ships participating in this trade were thus able to get back something of the heavy prices we paid to the foreigner for an indispensable commodity. But even £32—$160—per ton for dry mechanical pulp contrasted favourably with the chemical pulp, also shipped dry. This, which before the war cost £7 10s.—$37.50—per ton shot up to £47—$235—a ton at one period, and recorded £35—$175—per ton during 1918, while paper, even of the lowest grade, which commanded £10—$50—a ton in 1913, realized £45—$225—per ton in 1918.
Contemporaneously with the adjustment of the various questions pertaining to the Scandinavian pulp and paper, the authorities set to work to develop the domestic raw material industry. Obviously the most promising founts were rags and waste-paper. It was computed that, if these available sources were fully exploited, it would be possible to secure some 300,000 tons of suitable material during the year.
However, it was seen that the first step would be to instil into the minds of the community the necessity to observe rigid economy in the use of paper. Rationing brought home the fact that a paper shortage existed, and, of itself, led users to be more sparing in their uses of this article, in precisely the same way as similar measures effected comparative results in connection with foodstuffs and other commodities. But in so far as paper is concerned it is difficult to preach the gospel of economy; it has been ridiculously cheap and abundant for far too long. Nevertheless much was accomplished, but whether the lessons thus imparted have been taken sufficiently to heart as to become ingrained is problematical. Reversion to former conditions will probably promote a state of affairs as bad as, if not worse than, before.
The wasteful consumption of paper was by no means confined to any particular class of the community. Industry was every whit as improvident. For instance, the soap-making trade naturally absorbs immense quantities of the article, but the manufacturers were shown how, by practising simple saving methods, they might do with 10,000 tons less per year, which, at the prices then prevailing, represented a round £350,000—$1,750,000—per annum. To one firm alone the suggestion represented a possible economy of £75,000—$375,000—a year. What is possible of attainment in the soap-making industry is equally feasible in other trades, especially those identified with provisions. If such broad economies be carried out they could scarcely fail to exercise, under competitive trading conditions, an appreciable influence upon the price of the products concerned. Consequently, paper, as already indicated, has a more or less direct bearing upon the cost of living.
The wastage of paper throughout the country is appalling. Upon the completion of its designed function the material is either burned, consigned to dust-bin, or allowed to pursue an aimless journey at the mercy of the wind through our highways and byways. People of a thrifty turn of mind undoubtedly save their waste, disposing of it at intervals to itinerant collectors, who acquire the litter of the house in exchange for something more or less attractive, if not useful, in kind.
Previous to the war very little of this waste found its way back to the domestic paper mills to be re-made. The percentage of waste blended with new pulp was very low, certainly not more than 2 per cent. Even this was almost entirely restricted to what is known as “broke,” that is the trimmings from the reels when repairing breakages in the continuous lengths running through the printing or paper-making machines.
Strange to relate, nearly the whole of the waste-paper recovered from the household, office and factory was exported, principally to the United States of America, until an American firm, discovering Britain to be a waste-paper mine, established itself in our midst to salvage an appreciable quantity of what we regarded as a nuisance. This refuse was utilized as raw material for the manufacture of paper-boards, the American analogue to our familiar strawboard, to form book covers, stout packing, and to meet other conditions where adequate protection to contents is demanded. This became a prosperous undertaking and afforded merely another instance of how the stranger within our gates has been able to reap material profit at our expense and through our folly.
Although this firm absorbed an enormous quantity of our waste-paper it could not cope with the avalanche of this refuse. Many additional thousands of tons were shipped annually to the New World to be worked up. It seems remarkable that the Americans should have found it profitable to collect our residue, to freight it across 3,000 miles of ocean, and to fabricate therefrom their particular range of goods, instead of turning the material available on their own side to such account. But the venture proved decidedly profitable as the results testified. Indeed, it was the enterprise of this pushing firm which first brought home to us the wealth capable of being derived from the commercial exploitation of waste-paper, and which led us to introduce a collecting system upon an organized basis.
When the authorities grasped the significance of the waste-paper issue they promptly took steps to retain the whole of the residue in these islands. Export was prohibited; it could only be returned to British mills. A country-wide appeal was made urging every trader and every private citizen to conserve his waste-paper, whether it were used envelopes, newspapers, postcards or fragments of brown paper. So urgent became the demand for this raw material that housewives were requested to ransack their cupboards and lumber-rooms for odds and ends of every description in the paper line—old novels, abandoned magazines and what not; business houses, workshops, and factories were invited to indulge in spring-cleanings to turn out musty files of old letters, receipts, memoranda, obsolete account books and other accumulations; paper hangings stripped from walls in course of redecoration, instead of being burned, were sedulously bagged; even hoardings were divested of their hard thick hides of superimposed posters to provide food for the paper mills. Municipal authorities were urged to participate in the round-up, since it was recognized that imposing quantities of paper evaded all other methods of recovery from inadvertent committal to the dust-bin. In another chapter I have indicated what was done in this direction.
The authorities stimulated the great national paper-chase by every possible artifice. Waste-paper organizers, to the number of thirty-five, were appointed to various parts of the country to foster and to supervise the collection of this refuse. Licences were granted to approved merchants authorizing them to deal in the article. Prices were fixed and graduated according to the quality of the waste, and upon a liberal basis to encourage one and all to conserve and to hand over their accumulations of what they considered to be sheer rubbish. In this way waste-paper was poured back into the British mills for remanufacture in a steady stream of 4,300 tons a week. For a time the volume was maintained, but then it gradually and persistently declined because as the founts became exhausted the quantity of paper put back into circulation suffered a steady decrease.
Despite the elaborate precautions observed, and the salvage organizations instituted, a vast quantity of the refuse escaped recovery. Paper is something like the elusive pin: where it goes no one appears to know. During the period when salvage was being pressed home with all vigour the British mills were turning out about 700,000 tons of paper a year. Of this aggregate approximately one-fifth—150,000 tons—went to the army in the field in France in some form or other. A further 150,000 tons could not be expected to be recovered as waste, being either retained or submitted to certain necessary applications such as filing, the lighting of fires, and so on. This left a balance of 400,000 tons which went into circulation, but of which only 200,000 tons were retrieved to be sent back to the mills to be repulped. What became of the outstanding 200,000 tons it was impossible to say: it simply disappeared. Probably much suffered destruction through ignorance, while no doubt much was lost through being soiled to such a degree as to be beyond redemption. But the fact remained that of the 700,000 tons produced at least 50 per cent., or 350,000 tons—including the 150,000 tons sent to France—were completely lost, whereas by the exercise of a little forethought, care and trouble the greater part thereof might have been retrieved. Through negligence or ignorance the nation was losing a round £3,350,000—$16,750,000—a year, because the paper was worth at least one penny—2 cents—a pound in the waste form.
From the magnitude of the absolute losses it is obvious that we could never have sustained ourselves for long upon the forthcoming supplies of waste-paper and the diminished foreign imports of pulp to serve as raw materials. Accordingly search was made for other potential raw materials of domestic origin, the governing principle of this mission being to place the country in such a position as to be quite independent of the foreigner in all matters pertaining to paper, not only during the war period, but after the cessation of hostilities.
Paper, in one respect, is a curious manufactured product. It can be made from almost any fibrous material with the exception of wool. The knowledge of this fact prompted members of the general public to advance the claims of divers and wondrous substances. As may be readily imagined, the majority of these suggestions erred somewhat upon the side of the fantastic and chimerical. The mere fact that paper can be made from almost anything does not necessarily imply that it is commercially practicable to exploit even the most obvious raw materials indiscriminately. There is a wide and deep gulf between the laboratory, the cradle of experiment, and the factory, the home of application. In the first-named the factor of cost of production does not count; in the last-named it constitutes the crux of the issue. Consequently the majority of the recommendations submitted by the uninitiated suffered from the disability of being perfectly feasible but hopelessly impracticable. Submission of a suggestion to the cold, unrelenting, unsympathetic manufacturing analysis and subsequent translation into pounds, shillings, and pence offered the incontestable reply to the inevitable question “Will it pay?”
One article of domestic origin, the spartina, or common couch grass, which thrives in abundance upon many stretches of our coastline, notably Hampshire, was responsible for an avalanche of letters containing inquiries as to why this material was not being turned to account. Apparently every individual who had visited the neighbourhood of the Solent, and had observed the density of this growth, assailed the authorities for their lethargy. Esparto grass was imported from Spain to make paper, and yet here we were ignoring a readily obtainable indigenous grass similar in every respect!
But the claims of spartina had been promptly investigated—to be found wanting. In the first place, when a new material appears to be promising the question as to whether sufficiently imposing supplies could be forthcoming must be considered carefully. The paper-making machines are insatiable and avaricious, devouring raw material not by the ton but by the thousands of tons. This in turn gives rise to the question as to the cost of securing the necessarily heavy supplies. One enthusiast, who had advanced the claims of the couch grass, was interrogated upon the subject because he had evolved a means of gathering the spartina. When he was asked the cost of his process he blandly replied that he could do it for £15—$75—per ton. He received a shock when he was told that there was another material, forthcoming in far greater quantities, and far more suitable for the purpose, which could be obtained and delivered to the mill for £4 10s.—$22.50—a ton! I may remark that spartina grass is being used for paper-making where the conditions favour its cheap collection and transport. Speaking generally, however, with prices at an artificial level, any material costing more than £5—$25—per ton delivered at the mill—this figure is inclusive of collecting, transport, and other charges—stands little chance of favourable consideration. Under normal trading conditions the prospect will be even less attractive.
The acquisition of the raw material represents merely the preliminary phase of the whole issue. To reduce it to pulp involves the consumption of coal—cheap water-power is rare in these islands—and so the probable fuel bill requires to be sounded. How many tons of coal will be required to produce a ton of pulp? It is a simple question and one which prompts another, closely allied thereto, namely, “How many tons of such-and-such material will be required to furnish a ton of paper?”
This is the rock upon which many buoyant expectations have been completely wrecked. Still confining ourselves to the couch grass, and considering the second factor first, we find that it has rather a low yield efficiency, this being in the neighbourhood of 27 per cent. In other words, it will require nearly four tons of crude grass to produce one ton of paper. When ranged beside esparto grass, with which it seems to have much in common, and which therefore is a convenient comparative unit, the outlook for the couch grass is completely shattered, because the efficiency yield of esparto is high, 43·5 per cent. Only a little more than two tons of grass are necessary to produce one ton of paper.
But the fuel factor is far more destructive to the claims of the waste grass growing upon the seashore. To make one ton of paper from esparto grass, under the most favourable conditions, requires 3 tons of coal. In actual practice it ranges from 3·5 to 4 tons. But with spartina grass the coal consumption is forced up to 5, and even to 7, tons under the unfavourable conditions prevailing in many paper-mills. Accordingly, it will be seen that couch grass cannot be construed into an attractive raw material for paper. I may say there are other objections to its use, but the foregoing are sufficient to bring about its rejection in this phase of utility.
Even if we take those materials which are accepted as being the most favourable to the manufacture of paper we gain enlightenment. One ton of waste-paper will not yield one ton of new paper as might be imagined. The loss in re-manufacture is about 25 per cent., so that from the 58,000 tons which enter into the made waste of the country we could produce about 44,000 tons of new paper. Cotton rags have a high yield efficiency, being in the neighbourhood of 85 per cent. and upon this basis we might safely expect a yield of some 16,000 tons of paper from the 19,000 tons of rags committed to the dust-bins of the country.
It may be mentioned that in the search for indigenous materials whence paper might be manufactured, the whole gamut of obvious domestic contributions to the issue have been examined, including such substances as sawdust, wood-shavings, wood-slats, grasses of which there are over 100 varieties, mimosa bark, peat, straw, flax-wastes, flax-shoves, and dried potato vine. Of this wide selection only four materials hold out any promise of extending commercial possibilities. These include sawdust, wood-shavings, wood-slats and straw, with potato haulm serving as an excellent material for the fabrication of a coarse, strong, brown packing paper. Of course, it must be explained that these materials are in addition to those generally utilized in the industry, such as rags, sacking, bagging and reeds, to mention only a few substances.
The definite end sought in the first instance was not so much the discovery of suitable substances to supersede entirely the imported mechanical and chemical pulps, as the presentation of materials which might be considered effectively as useful for dilution purposes. By this is meant the production of a pulp, made perhaps from some familiar product, which, when added to a certain proportion of the conventional pulp, would yield a paper comparable with that derived from the last-named exclusively. Any success recorded in connection with a diluent offers the means to enable a specific quantity of the imported raw material to be induced to go farther than would be the case otherwise, this tendency becoming accentuated as dilution is increased.
It was essentially in this light that the feasibility of pressing sawdust, wood-slats, and other wood and vegetable refuse was considered. Of course, behind all these developments, experiments, and researches, there has been the lingering hope that ways and means might ultimately be found of enabling us to dispense with outside sources of supply in their entirety. This hope still prevails, and, if properly fostered, may lead to realization. But to consummate such an end it is essential to employ materials capable of yielding a pulp as closely resembling the article derived from the tree as possible. Patient investigation proved that sawdust offered the most attractive possibilities in this connection.
While doubt has been expressed concerning the adaptability of sawdust to this duty there are the experiences of Canada and the United States to guide us. Indeed, we need not go out of these islands to obtain confirmatory evidence of its applicability to paper-making. Britain pioneered the utilization of sawdust for the manufacture of paper, and, by a strange coincidence, it was the Napoleonic wars which compelled us to resort to such a manifestation of enterprise. With the exit of Napoleon from the world’s political stage the necessity to exploit sawdust in this connection disappeared, and so the process fell into disuse, to lie dormant for a round one hundred years. Consequently the use of sawdust really represents but a revival of an old practice.
But, so far as these islands are concerned, and under normal conditions, sawdust can scarcely be regarded as a paper-making material. The quantity available from our sawmills is too meagre to enable the idea to be practised extensively. There is just one chance of placing the development upon a firm footing. We are big consumers of timber, but the greater part of our requirements in this field are satisfied by importing supplies in a manufactured condition. Attempts are being made to restore the British wood-working industry by importing lumber in the slabbed condition, that is square trimmed logs either in the form of huge rafts or demountable ships. Should this development mature then our sawmills will become clogged with huge accumulations of wood-waste in the form of the sawdust, the exploitation of which will be keenly appreciated.
During the war, however, the necessity to exploit the forests of Britain to contribute to the requirements of the army and mines in regard to wood has resulted in the piling-up of huge heaps of sawdust. It was discovered that in Scotland alone this residue was accumulating at the rate of 60,000 tons a year, through the activity of the Canadian lumberjacks. Conservative estimates place the annual sawdust yield throughout the British Isles at 150,000 tons. Of this gigantic contribution only from 5 to 10 per cent. is drawn from hard woods. The balance, 90 to 95 per cent., is derived from the soft woods and so furnishes a huge reservoir of potential raw material for paper-making.
Coincident with the accumulation of sawdust are the fabrication of huge piles of wood-slats—the trimmings from the logs. These also represent sheer refuse, the only possible disposal being in the form of fire or kindling wood. At one lumber-camp in Scotland there was found a pile, a sprawling, ragged and jagged stack, house-high, covering 20 acres, and containing, at a modest estimate, from 300 to 500 tons of wood-waste. It was ideal for paper-making as investigations proved, but was then merely being allowed to rot.
The process of preparing sawdust for the paper-maker is very simple and inexpensive. It may be described as an application of the system for producing mechanical pulp, because, in the main, the resultant product is very similar to the latter in its essential characteristics. The waste, being the product of the buzz-saw, is coarse in texture. It is first passed over a riddle of wide mesh, which, while allowing the dust proper to fall through readily, collects the pieces of bark, chips, and other fragments of wood which may have become associated with the dust. This residue is thrown to one side for conversion by a different method. The sifted sawdust is dumped into a hopper to fall by gravity in a steady stream into the mill, which is somewhat reminiscent of the familiar mortar-mill, below. As it enters the latter it is caught up by the revolving grindstone and crushed against the stationary stone, the result being that it is disintegrated and pulverized. By virtue of the centrifugal action set up the dust, as it is whirled round, naturally works from the centre to the periphery of the wheels, the coarser particles or tailings being flung out, while the finely-divided dust, produced by the grinding action, falls into a separate receptacle.
The tailings are recovered to be re-passed through the mill, and, in time, for the most part are also ground to the desired degree of fineness. A certain proportion of residue defies reduction in this manner, but it is not discarded. It is retrieved to be used in the manufacture of coarse brown paper. Two methods of grinding, even in the vertical mill, are practised. The one known as the wet process involves the addition of water to the dust, which thus becomes hydrated, the resultant saw-pulp, as it is called, being somewhat similar to the familiar wet mechanical pulp. The alternative process is described as dry grinding, the sap in the wood constituting the only moist agent.
It may be mentioned that, in the very earliest attempts to emulate the wasps’ paper-making process, the experimenter ground the wood to dust by applying the log to the face of a grindstone which was revolving, water being the lubricant, the practice recalling the grinding of tools. The particles of wood fell, with the water, into the trough beneath. The surplus water was drawn off, leaving a mashy residue or pulp—hence the name.
In grinding the sawdust the coarse material is reduced to a fine powdery substance, soft and silky in texture when dry, but which retains the essential fibrous characteristic, though naturally the length of the individual fibre is extremely minute. But pulp so produced possesses one advantage for the paper-maker—it demands no preliminary boiling. It can be discharged direct into the beater, as the machine which prepares the raw material for the paper-making machine is called, with the waste-paper, sulphite or mechanical pulp, or a mixture of both, it only being necessary for the agitation of the contents of the beater to be conducted thoroughly to bring about the perfect blending of the ingredients.
I have emphasized the circumstance that this saw-pulp may only be considered as a diluent. This may be varied from 10 to 35 per cent. according to the quality of the paper desired. The issue of the Times, dated June 15, 1918, was printed on paper containing 20 per cent. of this saw-pulp, but I have seen other newspapers the paper for which was prepared from pulp diluted to the extent of 35 per cent. with the saw-pulp. With the accumulation of experience in the working up of this material marked improvements are to be recorded in regard to quality of the resultant paper which has enabled dilution to be carried to an enhanced degree without imperilling the factor of strength which the finished product must possess to enable it to be passed through the newspaper printing machine at a speed of 500 feet per minute without breaking. Under modern conditions it is difficult to determine whether or not saw-pulp has been introduced into the composition of the paper, which testifies conclusively to the perfection of production.
This economic utilization of one waste from the sawmill is of decisive financial significance. Cost of production is extremely low, because the power for driving the grinding mill may be obtained by firing the steam boilers either with sawdust itself, the consumption thereof being small, or with the refuse resulting from the preliminary sifting of the dust. Indeed, the process holds out such alluring possibilities that there is no reason why every sawmill should not include a grinding mill to treat the residue on the spot, shipping the saw-pulp direct to the mill, thus turning what is now an unmitigated nuisance and a source of danger into a distinct commercial asset. It is estimated that a grinding mill requiring 25 h.p. for its operation could turn out 1¹⁄₃ tons of saw-pulp in the course of the ordinary 8 hours’ working day or 7 tons a week. The cost of such a plant would be about £400—$2,000—and the price obtainable for the product should be sufficient to render the conversion of the waste to this useful purpose attractive after paying all outgoings. At the time the practice was brought into operation the cost of reducing the sawdust to saw-pulp of the desired character was from £5 to £6—$25 to $30—per ton. It is estimated that the saw-pulp maker would be equitably rewarded with £8—$40—per ton for the finished material ready for transport to the mill. On this basis a grinding mill, working to full capacity through the 44 hours’ working week, should be able to show a gross profit of £21—$105—which should leave an adequate margin of net profit to encourage such exploitation of the waste. The expansion of this young industry, however, depends entirely upon the conditions which will obtain upon the restoration of normal trading. It is a moot point whether the Scandinavian pulp-makers will ever be able to revert to pre-war quotations for their product, owing to the increasing costs of production, and this fact should render the outlook distinctly promising for the home producers, more especially if the sawmill trade be destined to undergo a decided revival. Every ton of saw-pulp produced from the waste will prove beneficial to the nation, for the simple reason that it will enable us to reduce our purchases from foreign sources of pulp by a corresponding amount.
While saw-pulp can only be regarded as a contribution to the paper-making problem, there happens to be another waste product suitable for this purpose, one which is available in much larger quantities, and the supply of which would seem to be increasing rather than decreasing. I refer to straw. Hitherto we have sadly neglected the many possibilities offered in this connection, having preferred to turn our by-product of the grain fields to other applications and to import vast quantities of strawboard for the manufacture of boxes, containers, and what not. Other countries have been more industrious and enterprising than we, but what they have achieved is equally feasible in these islands. To bring home the magnitude of this industry it is only necessary to relate that our annual pre-war imports of strawboard from Holland reached 250,000 tons.
There is no reason why such a lamentable state of affairs should continue. Straw is not only useful for the production of strawboard, but it constitutes an excellent material for the manufacture of paper. Its yield efficiency, while lower than that of esparto grass, being only 33·3 per cent., is sufficiently high to render its exploitation in this direction highly promising, especially as the material can be obtained in huge quantities.
At the present moment our supplies of straw for civilian needs may rule low and prices may be high. But this is due to the heavy military demands. Once the latter retire from the market and leave the article to take care of itself, a marked drop in price may be confidently anticipated, particularly if our new agricultural policy be maintained. So long as it pays the farmer to grow corn he will continue to do so, and the more acres he brings under this indispensable commodity the greater will be the quantity of the by-product thrown upon the market. It is anticipated that, when things settle down, from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 tons of straw in excess of civilian needs will be available, and the only possible outlet then for this waste from our grain-fields will be the paper-mill. The utilization of the straw in this direction will be influenced by charges for fuel and labour, while, of course, the price of the imported pulp will affect any decision which may be contemplated in regard to the exploitation of our home resources. But assuming that the Scandinavian pulp will be dearer as a result of enhanced production charges, and assuming that dumping tactics just to hold the market will be frustrated, it is quite possible that we shall find it cheaper to depend upon our own exertions with domestic materials. If the quantity of straw which I have mentioned should become available and be absorbed for this purpose, it will be adequate to furnish from 670,000 to 1,000,000 tons of paper.
The straw, borne directly from the land, is relatively cheap. The cost, delivered to the mill, even during the war was only about £4 10s.—$22.50—per ton. This figure is likely to fall. It produces an excellent paper, but it is essential that it should be chopped very finely preparatory to treatment, after which it is boiled with chemicals and finally bleached. The yield efficiency being 33·3 per cent. it follows that three tons of straw are required to produce one ton of paper.
But the straw is not only required for the production of paper; it is equally necessary for the manufacture of strawboard. Under war conditions an appreciable quantity of the reclaimed paper was being repulped to furnish cardboard and paper-board for packing purposes to make good the shortage prevailing in regard to the Dutch product. But the waste-paper is more useful for paper-making. Accordingly it is being switched over to this duty. It was merely utilized otherwise during the war because it was so urgently required, the national consumption running into approximately 100,000 tons annually. Efforts are being made to establish the strawboard industry in these islands. The Dutch method has been adopted, and there are hopes that the output will be speedily raised to 50,000 tons a year. While this falls far short of the actual imports it represents a bold commencement to emancipate us from the necessity to pay tribute to the foreigner to the extent of nearly £1,000,000—$5,000,000—per year for an article which we might just as well produce at home.
Why do we not undertake the manufacture of wood-pulp in this country? This is an obvious question. But so far as these islands are concerned the absence of supplies of raw material in the form of forests has been responsible for the British abandonment of this range of activity. Anterior to the outbreak of war there were three mills in this country possessing integral facilities for pulping wood by the sulphite process, but it was unremunerative owing to the insufficient supplies of suitable indigenous timber. Two mills permitted their sulphite plant to fall into disuse and in course of time dismantled them. The third mill maintained operations, though under difficulties, while its contribution was small in comparison with that of Scandinavia, its capacity being only 6,000 tons a year.
The enormous accumulations of wood-slats arising from the exploitation of our forests to meet military requirements turned native thought towards the resuscitation of the chemical system of pulping. A scheme was promulgated for the erection of a plant in Scotland to work upon the sulphate process, the proposed site for the plant happening to be in close proximity to one of the largest ephemeral logging camps. By the sulphate system the wood is reduced to a pulp by boiling in a solution of caustic soda, and for this reason is often known as soda pulp to distinguish it from the sulphite pulp. It requires three tons of wood chips to yield one ton of pulp, which incidentally I may mention is one of the strongest pulps known to the paper-making craft. At the time the problem was discussed this pulp commanded £40—$200—a ton, and so manufacture was considered to offer an alluring prospect for British enterprise. The only defect in this pulp is that it is difficult to bleach, and therefore can be used only sparingly in the production of white paper. It is used principally in the manufacture of strong brown papers, such as “thin kraft,” the brown paper used for fruit and other bags, or for packing-paper where colour is of minor importance.
Henceforth “kraft” will be in heavy demand for quite a new range of activity. This is the production of paper textiles in which British inventiveness has far out-distanced the German achievements in this field. At the moment the British company specializing in these textiles is being called upon to pay £40—$200—per ton for its raw material drawn from Scandinavia, so that any fall in price which was anticipated as a result of the cessation of hostilities, which would be likely to undercut British production, has failed to materialize so far. It may also be mentioned that British enterprise is quite ready to bring over illimitable quantities of soft woods from the forests of Eastern Canada in the log condition, and at a rate which is far cheaper than that which has hitherto prevailed. This is due to a complete revolution which has been wrought in the water movement of lumber, and it will not only enable the requisite material to be acquired at a figure severely competitive, but allow much of the waste lumber in Canada, at present being ignored, to be submitted to commercial service.
But the exploitation of the foregoing materials by no means exhausts our possibilities in this field. There are other substances, of a refuse character, possessing undoubted virtues for paper-making. Among these may be mentioned potato haulm. There is every indication that our output of the potato will record a decided increase owing to the development of industrial science in other fields. Consequently it is only logical to expect increased accumulations of the bine. At the present moment the vegetation in question is regarded more or less as useless. It should be turned back into the ground to assist in feeding the soil, but many farmers are disinclined to follow such a practice for the reason that the bine is apt to foul the plough, and thus delay the ground-breaking task. Its fertilizer content, or rather the phosphoric acid and potash constituents, are generally reclaimed by burning the bine and turning in the ash, but this process is to be deprecated inasmuch as the whole of the valuable nitrogen content is lost.
The haulm, owing to the nature of its fibres, is held to be an excellent material for the production of brown paper where strength is the essential requirement. So a British inventor devised what may be described as a kind of decorticating machine to rend the tough fibre to pieces upon the spot. The machine is simple, free from liability to easy derangement, and ingenious. It is suggested that it should be acquired by the farmer to permit the treatment of this waste as recovered during the lifting season. It is held to make especial appeal to the agriculturist possessing a motor-tractor, the requisite energy being drawn therefrom through belt and pulley. It is estimated that the manufacture of the machine, upon a sufficiently large scale, will enable it to be sold at about £100—$500. The shredded stalk or fibre should be able to command from £4 10s. to £5 10s.—$22.50 to $27.50—per ton at the mill and should appeal to the paper-maker owing to its high yield efficiency, which is in the neighbourhood of 65 per cent. Of course, the suggestion that this waste should be recovered for the production of paper is one that can only be entertained by the large grower, but it is computed that at least 1,000 machines would be necessary to cope with the country’s annual output of this refuse.
Another waste product which has also been subjected to test, and found promising, is the husk from the oat which accrues from milling. The useless offal resulting from grinding this grain is approximately 35 per cent. In its general characteristics the oat-husk closely resembles sawdust, while its preparation for paper-making entails a broadly identical process—passage through a grinding mill to reduce the residue to the desired consistency. Investigations proved the suitability of this husk-pulp as an ingredient for making certain low-grade papers, such as are used by grocers, and for the very cheapest literature. Paper so made is composed of oat-husks, 35 per cent.; waste-paper, 50 per cent.; imported pulp, 15 per cent. But the most gratifying feature of such paper is that it can be made from domestic raw materials—waste—to the extent of 85 per cent.
It is evident, from what I have related, that the paper situation need never occasion us any undue alarm. We have abundant materials available in the form of waste which we might exploit to our material and financial profit. War, with its concomitant evils, has turned the world upside down. What we could not exploit previously to advantage, owing to severely competitive prices, is now rendered feasible. It only remains for us to submit the results of proved experiments to actual commercial practice.