Non-wood fibres in papermaking: A brief history

Currently, wood is by far the major raw material for the global pulp and paper industry. It is, however, a relatively new raw material in papermaking. Historically, paper was made exclusively from non-wood plant fibres. The first true production of paper is credited to T. S'ai Lun in AD 5 in China. This first paper was apparently made from textile wastes, old rags and used fishnets, which consisted of the fibres of true hemp and China grass (ramie) (Atchison and McGovern, 1993).

While non-woods were originally used for papermaking, in the late seventeenth century wood became the predominant fibre source in Europe. The seemingly inexhaustible supply and versatility of wood were the major causes of this shift. Today, most modern pulp and paper enterprises rely on wood (Smook, 1992).