Pulp Fiction? Re-innovation of Paper Manufacture from Textiles

Abstract

Papermaking is once again under consideration as a new market for waste textiles in the UK. Whereas in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the driver was to provide a convenient and cheap form of cellulose, now the need is to create markets for waste textiles that are disposed of to incineration or landfill, or which go to declining recycling markets such as wipers or mattress fillings. Technical and economic issues are substantial and it may be that the end product of the papermaking process will not resemble the original product of 200 years ago. This article will consider the technical challenges and theoretical understanding of this re-innovation process. It will explore how the changing costs of environmental regulation compliance, and changing consumer preferences are leading to the revisiting of processes in the UK that were previously abandoned.

Keywords:

• re-innovation
• papermaking
• rag
• post-consumer apparel
• pulp
• reclaimed fiber
• textile recycling