Pulp and Paper

Countries with high standards of living are large consumers of paper products. Australia consumed 3.6 million tonnes of paper products in 2000-01 - about 180 kg per person. Per person consumption of paper products in Australia is similar to consumption in the United Kingdom but substantially lower than in more highly industrialised countries such as Germany, Japan, Sweden and the United States, which are major producers and exporters of manufactured goods.

On a global scale, continued population and economic growth is expected to lead to greatly increased demand for paper products. Between 1990 and 1995 paper consumption increased by 13.6% a year in countries that are members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). In Australia, despite the rapid development of electronic communication systems, the continued growth of the economy is expected to increase the demand for paper products, with printing and writing papers showing the strongest growth.


Manufacturing Processes

Most paper is made from either new (virgin) or recycled wood fibre. Other plant fibres such as sugar cane (bagasse), straw and hemp are used but account for only a small proportion of total paper production.

A number of pulping processes can be used to separate wood fibres so that they can be manufactured into paper. Different types of paper require pulps with different characteristics and so the pulping processes used depend on the type of paper to be produced. The processes can be broadly classified as either mechanical or chemical.

Mechanical pulping processes separate the fibres by mechanical pressure. These processes, which use relatively large amounts of energy, produce high yields of relatively low quality pulp suitable for newsprint and packaging papers where high tearing strength is not required.

Chemical pulping processes separate the fibres by dissolving lignin that binds the fibres together and stiffens the fibre walls. These processes which require expensive effluent disposal and chemical recovery systems, produce low yields of relatively high quality pulp suitable for printing and writing papers and grades of paper where high tearing strength is required.

Paper made from either mechanical and chemical pulp can be recycled. Recycling does not change the intrinsic fibre properties but individual fibres deteriorate with reuse and consequently there is a limit to the number of times they can be recycled. Most recycled fibre is either mixed with virgin fibre or used for packaging grades of paper.

Domestic Supplies

Australian producers supply about two-thirds of the volume of paper products consumed in Australia. The balance is imported. Exports are only a small proportion of total production.

Apparent Consumption of Paper in Australia ('000 tonnes)