Issues Shaping Future Research and Development, 1996 International Pulp Bleaching Conference Proceedings

Research and development in the bleaching of pulp is responding to a wide range of concerns. In the opening session of this conference, experts from around the world will provide perspective on some of the most important issues facing producers of bleached pulp and paper for the world market. Bill Fuller, of Weyerhaeuser Co. will open the session with an overview of the global fiber supply. He calls it a “Balancing Act” as the industry moves from an era of relative fiber abundance to one of relative fiber scarcity. Clearly this will provide pressure to preserve yield in pulping and bleaching processes and also force development of pulping and bleaching of non-wood fibers such as agricultural residues. George Treier, of Xerox Corporation takes a look from the other end of the spectrum to discuss what kind of paper quality we will need in the information age. Treier challenges the notion that electronic media will replace paper. Rather he argues that document creation and manipulation are enriched by both electronic and hard copy - a synergistic relationship. Paper is now the interface of choice because it is user friendly, but the future use of paper is by no means guaranteed. Industry must adapt paper grades to continue to enhance the user-display interface. Environmental issues have been the dominant force in the last ten years driving bleaching research and development. A new value added quality, “environmental friendliness”, i.e., how a pulp was bleached, is now often a criteria for purchase preference. David Refkin, of Time Inc. and member of the Paper Task Force, will report on over two years of research into how to determine and define such “environmentally preferable paper”. The recent environmental pressure on bleaching technology owes its roots principally to a desire to improve the environmental quality of bleach plant effluent. Dr. John Carey, of Environment Canada, has studied the environmental impact of bleaching, and...