 How
many trees can be saved?
Al Wong, Arbokem Inc., Vancouver, Canada
ABSTRACT. Growth in paper and paperboard consumption in the developed
countries continues at the rate of 2 to 3% annually. Most of the papermaking
fibres are sourced from wood harvested from the primary forests. Because
of economic greed, the accessible supplies have diminished considerably
during the past 40 years. The demand to increase forest harvesting rate
remains unabated. Culturally-valuable and ecologically-important forests
are being destroyed unnecessarily.
It is timely to re-examine the supply of papermaking fibres from a zero-base
viewpoint, without technical prejudice. The obvious sensible approach
is the reinforcement of the basic tenet: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, and
with the addition of a "4th R". The fourth "R" is
replacement of traditional virgin wood fibres with other fibres. Replacement
with agricultural cropping residues in paper manufacture, in conjunction
with "reduce, reuse and recycle" practices would have a significant
impact on "saving trees". (AK16963W)
Paper presented at the 1998 Annual Conference of the Recycling Council
of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, October 1, 1998.
Sequestering anthropogenic carbon
dioxide through industrial usage of agricultural cropping residues
Al Wong, Arbokem Inc., Vancouver, Canada and Ed Hogan, Natural Resources
Canada, Ottawa, Canada
ABSTRACT. Global climatic changes are being accelerated by excessive
emission of carbon dioxide through anthropogenic activities. One major
cause is the increased burning of coal and natural gas fro the production
of electrical energy. Carbon dioxide sequestering could be conveniently
effected through the use of surplus straw for the production of pulp
and paper as well as building products. The sequestering period could
be as much as 20 years. Increased production of straw on existing grain
cropping could provide additional sequestering of anthropogenic carbon
dioxide. (AK16820)
Proc. Bioenergy '98 Conference, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, October, 1998.
Using crop residues to save forests
Al Wong, Arbokem Inc., Vancouver, Canada
ABSTRACT. Agricultural cropping residues are the only readily available
source of fibre for agri-pulp production. Its aggregate quantity of 260
million tonnes in North America could significantly reduce forest-based
wood usage for paper manufacture, in real time. (AK15904; agri981.tif)
Global Diversity, 7, 4: 7-12 (1998).
Agripulp - the third papermaking
fibre
Alfred Wong, Arbokem Inc., Vancouver, Canada
ABSTRACT. The use of agricultural fibre for the manufacture of paper
has been known for centuries. Today, most of the agricultural-fibre pulp
production is in India and China. Agricultural fibre is used largely
because these countries have no natural forests or have depleted their
forest resources. In North America, there is a renewed public interest
in the use of ordinary paper made from agricultural-fibre pulp.
During the past 3 years, Arbokem has created a new class of high-performance
commercial printing and writing paper and newsprint. This agri-pulp paper
embodies agricultural pulp fibres and recycled wastepaper fibres. The
agri-pulp paper is priced to be affordable by the public at large. Agricultural
fibre paper has finally emerged from the stigma of “high-price
boutique paper” business in North America. (AK15858A)
Proc. Financial Times World Pulp and Paper Conference, London, UK,
December 6, 1997.
New direction in industry development
and environmental protection for non-wood pulp mills in developing countries
Alfred Wong, Arbokem Inc., Vancouver, Canada
ABSTRACT. For important economic and social reasons, non-wood pulping
is practiced largely, on a small production scale, in developing countries.
The sever water pollution problems caused by the operation of these small-scale
pulp mills have been largely ignored until recently. It is widely recognized
that the capital cost of eliminating pollution from these small pulp
mills is considerable. Consolidation of small pulp mills into larger
scale production units would result in substantial social hardship for
many rural communities. The adequate continual supply of raw material
becomes unmanageable. A large-scale pulp mill does not guarantee economic
viability. It is timely to consider alternative ways and means to maintain
community-size pulp mills without polluting the environment. Selection
of appropriate process technology is critical. There are manufacturing
technologies available to replace the conventional kraft/soda pulping
and chlorine-based bleaching processes. For certain non-wood raw materials,
it is now possible to maintain high strength and to achieve high pulp
brightness (e.g., 85%) without any bleaching. With advanced process technologies,
it may be economically and socially desirable to construct smaller-scale
pulp mills on purpose to benefit a large number of communities. (AK8914)
Proc. 2nd International Non-Wood Fibre Pulping and Papermaking Conference,
Shanghai, China, April, 1992. pp. 28-44.
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