42 Interesting Facts About Paper

1. Paper was invented from hemp by the Chinese, around 100 B.C. Later, they started creating paper using other forms of plant fibers such as bamboo and tree bark. Prior to the invention of paper, papyrus served as a writing surface.

2. The Chinese also are credited with being the first people to use paper currency and toilet paper.

3. The production of the paper focuses on softwood trees that account for approximately eighty-five percent of the form. The wood pulp in softwood trees contains cellulose fibers and is most preferred since they can produce adequate strength for paper.

4. The favorable softwood trees for papermaking include pine, fir, and spruce. Trees come in varied sizes, making it difficult to establish how a single tree can produce many sheets of paper. However, on average, one pine tree can make around 80,000 sheets of paper.

5. It can take five liters of water to make one sheet of paper. Although water and writing may sound like a bizarre combination, ninety-nine percent removal of water will make the remaining one percent paper the way we see it.

6. You can put paper into seven different categories. These are printing paper, writing paper, drawing paper, wrapping paper, handmade paper, blotting paper, and specialty paper.

7. Paper-making was a huge secret the Chinese kept to themselves until the sixth century when the idea was brought to Japan by a Buddhist monk called Dam Jing. The Japanese quickly learned this tactic and began making the valuable item using pulp obtained from mulberry bark.

8. It is believed that the knowledge of paper-making was later passed to the Arab world in 751 CE after the famous Battle of Talas. During this time, two Chinese who were paper-makers were captured as prisoners.

9. The paper-making technique employed by people of the Middle East tangled macerating and garnering rags in water to create homogeneous pulp, which would be sifted to obtain macerated fiber sheets. The sheets were then pressed, dried, and covered with a film of rice starch.

10. The idea of paper production and usage spread from the Middle East to Europe in the 13th Century. It was then that Europe established the first water-powered paper mills.

11. Much growth in paper industry took place in New York and New England during the late nineteenth century. For this reason, Holyoke and Massachusetts came to be known as ‘The Paper City.’

12. Philadelphia was an important center for paper-making in the nineteenth century as it had lots of specialty paper-makers such as manufacturers of roofing paper and wallpapers.

13. Mass communication began with the industrial manufacture of paper in the 19th Century. This was a result of the mass-circulation of newspapers and novels. During the same period, there was an explosion of literacy among the middle class.

14. The first monthly newspaper “Notizie Scritte,” was printed in Venice in the year 1556. The monthly publication would go for one Vatican coin known as Gazzetta thus the name ‘gazette’ can be used when referring to a newspaper.

15. Paper is widely recommended for packaging by manufacturers as it is appealing and easy to carry. For two-thirds of consumers, cardboard and paper-based packaging make items more alluring than other packaging materials.

16. Paper containers are bio-degradable and can be reused in many other forms such as fiber-boards. Therefore, people are encouraged to embrace them as compared to plastic containers.

17. Paper is one of the few truly renewable resources. Paper fibers can be recycled up to twelve times before they get too short for paper-making. Recycling paper makes it possible to save up to 0.4 hectares of forest. Furthermore, paper is made from trees, a renewable source.

18. Producing paper from waste paper is economical. 85% of the water used in normal paper production is saved when the paper is recycled as well as a significant reduction in water pollution. Recycling paper also means you saving trees. Statistics show that approximately 0.4 hectares of forest can be saved when a ton of paper is recycled.

19. The production of recycled paper contributes to cleaner air. Compared to the production of standard paper, recycled paper production reduces air pollution to up to 73%.

20. About two-thirds of the paper we use gets to be recycled.

21. Similar to the initial production of paper, the recycling process involves extraction. First, the recyclable paper is separated from the non-recyclable one; then, the recyclable paper is washed in soapy water. The soapy water cleans away the ink, glue, staples, and plastic films.

22. Paper production is energy-intensive. According to statistics, paper production is ranked top three of all manufacturing industries as the most energy-intensive. This however can be significantly reduced when paper is recycled.

23. During decomposition, paper releases methane, a gas more potent strong than carbon dioxide. Methane gas has a heat-trapping power 21 times more than carbon dioxide. Decomposing paper is therefore amongst the largest source of methane emission across the globe. In the event of recycling, such an issue is reduced.

24. Most solid wastes in landfills consist of paper. Paper represents up to 16% of solid wastes in landfills. The fact is, there is lots of paper being thrown away as waste instead of recycling. The end result is too much waste polluting the environment.

25. When paper decomposes in a landfill, it emits methane, a greenhouse gas that is more hazardous than carbon dioxide. Paper littering is more harmful to the environment.

26. Interestingly, the global paper consumption statistics reveal that printing is not the leading paper consumer. Packing and wrapping are significant consumers taking up to fifty-five percent of the total paper production.

27. Not all paper is made from wood. This might sound confusing right? But well, the first Chinese paper was made from cloth scraps and pieces of hemp material. Today, currency notes we use are made from cotton fiber, that’s why it is strong and more durable than normal paper.

28. Almost half of the paper used in offices ends up as waste. About 45% of paper used in offices, be it for printing or other uses ends up in thrash. The fact is, most companies lose a big number of all their paper documentation, up to 7.5%

29. Working towards a paperless office will save the many trees that are cut down daily, thus saving the environment. The number of junk mail delivered every year can be equated to 100 million trees.

30. Most paper in the market comes from recycled paper. A high number of paper pulps is derived from recycled paper. In the US, about 40% comes from recycled paper. This is a positive thing considering the benefits of recycling to the environment.

31. There are different ways to quantify paper. If you walk into a stationery store and ask for 25 sheets of paper, which can be quantified as one quire. 20 quires equate to one ream, two reams is one bundle and so one. Paper is also measured by caliper (thickness) and density.

32. An average office worker is said to use around 10, 000 sheets of paper each year (and as many as 6,800 of those sheets are wasted). A standard three-drawer filing cabinet that takes up to four square feet of the office space can hold about 9,000 sheets of paper. According to Price Waterhouse Coopers, the price associated with purchasing the cabinet and maintaining the area could add up to EUR 1,500 per year.

33. In the UK and most of the world, the paper sizes used are based on A-series. However, in the US, the most commonly used measure is the Letter sized sheet of paper. A4 is approximately 210 x 297 mm, while letter size is 215.9 x 279.4 mm.

34. Chinese were the first to make paper airplanes, which makes sense, having invented the paper itself. Although paper planes can have simple designs, what they can do can be fascinating. They float in a straight line unless they hit something; it can float forever.

35. Paper Planes. We’ve all had amazing crafts made from paper either in our early days in school or later in life. Did you ever make a paper plane? You’ll be amused enough that there is a paper plan that has flown to about 69.14m. This record was created by Joe Ayoob in 2012 using a paper plane designed by John Collins.

36. Regardless of paper size, there is a natural limit to the number of times you can fold a paper in half. The sides become stronger when folded since they double in thickness. For a long time, the limit for folded paper into half was seven; however, in 2002, Britney Gallivan showed that it is possible to go up to eleven times, later beaten in 2012 when students from St. Mark’s school managed to make thirteen folds.

37. Origami is the art of paper folding, which originated in China and late took Japan by storm. It was started in the 17th century and become popular in the western world in the 1900s. Ori means folding and kami refers to paper — kami changes to the game because of pronunciation. The art involves making intricate models of real-life objects like animals, buildings, and nature.

38. The enormous building entirely made from the paper was 6.4m tall, with a base measurement of 15.2m by 17.9m. The building was constructed to mimic traditional Thai houses and manufactured using corrugated paper by Kwag Hua Industries. He unveiled it in October 2003 in Bangkok.

39. The enormous roll of toilet paper that has ever been made was 2.59m high and 2.97m in diameter. It was founded by Charmin in Cincinnati, Ohio, the USA, in August 2011. Later, they sent it to a Ripley’s.

40. The record for the most extended piece of paper made was broken again in Paraguay on 7th August 2015. The Guinness World Record was broken by 250 students who created a giant sheet of paper from recycled newspapers, which measured 149.5 square meters.

41. The USA currency is not paper since it is seventy-five percent cotton and twenty-five percent line, making your average note three-quarters cotton. They use these materials instead of actual paper because they are more durable, which requires considering how much we handle money.

42. It is possible to take a degree course in Paper Science. If you are interested in analyzing the factors that influence modeling shrinkage during manufacture or pore size distribution, it may be a course for you.