We take it for granted, but paper surrounds us in an endless variety of useful and decorative forms. From the humble loo roll to precious books, it has accompanied us through some of our most formative times. From learning to read to our first valentines cards, the sensual feeling of paper in our hands is pleasing and familiar. There is no disputing the fact that we love paper, but do we ever stop to consider its origins and what the future of our most beloved surface holds? Will it continue to please us and prosper as an industry, or is it destined for the shredder, replaced by an intangible, digitised cloud?
'Paper is an extremely broad concept. The variations are almost limitless, and it is not only the visual impression but also the tactile qualities that make each paper unique. This is why paper is far more than just a surface' - Munken
Vellum and Parchment
Before the invention of paper, books and legal documents were scratched onto parchment or vellum, animal hides that had been scraped of hair (scudding), stretched and treated with lime to receive ink. Vellum represented authority and durability, the preservation of civilisation. Papal Bulls and acts of UK parliament, for example, were only issued and recorded on parchment. Although expensive to produce, vellum lasts for centuries. The Domesday Book, for example, is now over 900 years old and is still legible. Paper was distrusted in the same way methods of digital storage are resisted today. Vellum was such a trusted medium that paper did not supersede its use well into the 16th century.
"Handwriting placed on skin will be able to endure a thousand years. But how long will printing last, which is dependent on paper?" German Benedictine abbot - Johannes Trithemius 1490
Although paper peaked during the industrial age, there are some areas where vellum still holds dominance, even in our digital age. In 21st century Britain, all of our acts of parliament are still printed on vellum despite a recent challenge in the House of Lords. After 140 years of producing such Vellum, Paul Wright, General Manager at William Cowley's announced 'It is with great pleasure that I report, following a lengthy debate in the House of Commons, MP’s have voted overwhelmingly to continue to record Acts on vellum. This decision has secured the availability of ‘original documents’ for those generations that follow.'
Despite its durability, in all but a few instances, vellum could not compete with market forces and the demands of modern industrial society. The process was expensive, something like a bible, for example, would use the hides of a few hundred cattle. This was highly lucrative for landowners, but the price of texts were far beyond the reach of the common purse. The history of paper is inextricably linked with the history of printing and the rise of the printing press fuelled the demand for cheaper materials. Populations wanted cheaper reading materials and animal skins were by no means cost effective.
The Origins of True Paper
Image by Robin Spielmann
It is commonly assumed that paper was invented in ancient Egypt but papyrus is not strictly 'true' paper. Produced from the pith of the papyrus plant found on the banks of the river Nile, papyrus is created by a layering and flattening method; paper is composed of macerated fibre, mixed with water and sieved into thin sheets. It is believed that paper was invented in China by Cai Lun (AD 48–105) spreading to Japan and Korea before reaching the Arabic world in 750s AD . Paper making was a closely guarded secret and historical rumour has it that the secret was obtained from Chinese prisoners at the Battle of Talas.
The first paper mill in the Islamic world was consequently founded in Samarkand (Uzbekistan). The invention then spread to the rest of the Islamic world, and from there to Europe, where the first paper mill was established by the Moors in Spain in 1056.
Although paper was made from pulp, it was not from wood as we know it today but macerated textile fibres like cotton and linen, sometimes referred to as 'rag paper'. Although cheaper than parchment, paper was still an expensive item and it was not until the mid 19th Century that wood pulp began to supersede rag pulping. With the introduction of cheaper paper, reading matter became more readily available to the masses - hence the term 'Pulp Fiction', so called because it was printed on cheap and low-quality pulp paper. Writing letters and keeping diaries also became more accessible, widening our literary expressions and deepening our records of social history.
Turning Over a New Leaf - A Change in Production Practices
Industrialisation heralded the start of a consumer boom, but this came at a price. During the late twentieth century, we began to realise that our resources were finite, that our planet was suffering. We began to look at the amount of paper we were throwing away and paper recycling became a new domestic habit. On a larger scale, the modern paper mill uses large amounts of energy, water, and wood pulp in a complex series of processes, and control technology. Deforestation and the use of chemicals for bleaching being of particular concern to the paper industry. Many paper mills have risen to the challenge and demands of the public to produce paper in a cleaner and more energy efficient way. A perfect example of this is Munkendals AB paper mill used by Lagom Design. In the Environmental Performance index 2016, four of the top nations were Nordic countries and it's no surprise that their mill is based in Sweden, home to some of the most ecologically friendly paper mills in the world. This is largely due to the outlook of the Nordic people as Andew Carson (Business Development Manager at Arctic Paper) explains
Most of the employees working at the mill live in the nearby region. Most of them spend a lot of their spare time in nature and especially areas around the Gullmarsfjord (which is where the river ends).Swedish people, in general, are outdoor people with a close relation to nature…It is, therefore, natural to put great efforts into the environmental work at the mill.'
Founded in 1871, the Munkendals AB paper mill is situated on the west coast of Sweden by the Orekil river. The river flows into the Fjord Gullman and due to their sensitive location, they have adapted production to suit their natural environment. After hatching in early Spring, small Salmon stay in the river for two years before they leave for their nursery areas around the Faroe Islands and Iceland. Due to the fact their habitat downstream of the mill is their home for two years, it is of great importance that they clean the water correctly every day of the year. By using sophisticated water treatments and monitoring processes, they recycle as much water as possible internally, and keep a close watch on the health of the wildlife, as Andrew Curson (Business Development Manager at Arctic Paper) explains 'The mill has a very unique cleaning process. To make sure that this process is up to our expectations, we are continually taking water samples several times a day which are examined in our laboratory. In addition to this we hold Carp fish and mussels in our recovering ponds as a natural indicator for our cleaning process.'
Like many other European countries, Munkendals AB has moved away from using harsh bleaching chemicals and all of their paper is bleached without using damaging chlorine gas. They also ensure that their wood comes from forests that have been managed in a responsible way. The paper industry in Europe is changing in response to the needs of the environment, and to the demands of their consumers who want increasingly sustainable products.
Conserving Our Future - Preserving Our Past
'It can be interesting to reflect over the lifespan of your information when choosing a life long paper. You can probably no longer use the content of a floppy disk created 15 years ago, but you can still read a book published then. Do you think that you will be able to read the information you store digitally today in 30-50 years? Perhaps, but today there is still no future safe digital media. By choosing the right paper, however, you can ensure your information lasts several hundred years.'Munken AB 2016.
The future of paper is certainly cleaner, much greener, but can it compete with the digitisation of contemporary life? Interestingly, it appears to be holding its own. We trust paper and so things that mean a lot to us are committed to paper for the sake of posterity. The fears abbot Johannes Trithemius had in 1490 about the movement from vellum to paper are still relevant today - we fear that a movement to digital storage will result in a loss of our history, a loss that some of us have experienced already when a trusty device crashes. Although it seemed that digital progress had overtaken the humble sheet of paper, paper is not simply a retro fancy but an evolving product with an eye to the future. Institutions like the U.S government and The British Library have been researching ways to develop its durability with acid-free 'permanent' papers. We are not yet at the stage of having future proof digital storage and for the foreseeable future, our legal documents, social histories and precious books are still committed to our most treasured medium.
Addendum:
'Record copies of public Acts, passed since the beginning of the 2015 Parliament, have been printed on archival paper, with front and back vellum covers.' House of Commons Library