"Really, paper!"..... Never crossed my mind.

Paper, a versatile material with wide range of uses of which its most common use is for writing, printing upon and most often packaging is a product derived from pressing together moist fibres, tipically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them up into flexible sheets. That is to say paper is a product derived from plants.

The processes involved in paper making are chemistry based and involves processes in chemistry, implying that chemistry is part of our every day life. Paper making involves chemical pulping, or mechanical pulping, or recycling. then comes additives, drying then finishing.

CHEMICAL PULPING: The aim of chemical pulping process is to break down the chemical structure of lignin and render it soluble in the cooking liquor, so that it may be washed from the cellulose fibres. This process makes the fibre loose thus, making the pulp. This pulp can be bleached to produce white paper or dyed to produce colored paper. unbleached paper can be used directly for bags and boxes but are often processed further.

MECHANICAL PULPING: This is of two types, Thermomechanical pulp and Mechanical pulp. For thermomechanical pulp, wood is chipped and fed into a large steam-heated refiner where the chips are squeezed and fibreized between two steel discs. While for the mechanical pulp, debarked logs are fed into grinders where they are pressured against roatating stones and fibreized. Paper made from this pulp are yellow and become brittle over time.

RECYCLED PAPER: Paper recycling process may involve any of the above mentioned process. By mixing with water and applying mechanical process, the hydrogen bonds in the paper are broken and the fibres are separated again.

ADDITIVES: Besides fibres, pulp may contain fillers such as chalk, or china clay, which improve the characteristics of the paper for printing or writing.

DRYING: After the paper web is produced, pressing the sheet removes water from the pulp. Once water is forced out of the sheet, felt is used to collect the water. Drying involves using air and or heat to remove water from the paper sheet.

FINISHING: The paper may undergo sizing to alter the physical properties for various applications. Paper at this point is uncoated. The paper is then fed onto reels if it is to be used on web printing presses or cut into sheets for other purposes.