Why Chemical Additives?, 1999 Papermakers Conference Proceedings

Konrad Goebel, Rudolf Thummer

Imagine that paper had never been invented and that you had to write your letters on the side of a chamois as in Fig. 1. Imagine you had to pack something and had no paper to wrap it in...... With this advertising campaign, from which the chamois image is taken, the paper industry and the press attempted to raise the awareness of consumers for the role of paper in modern life. In many of these imaginary situations it is indeed possible to find a solution to the problem that does not involve paper. Engineers and technicians are trained to find solutions to problems of this type. Nevertheless, we have to ask ourselves whether these solutions are economically and ecologically viable. The fact is that that life without paper in a civilized society can no longer be contemplated. Paper is a very important, perhaps the most important, means of cultural exchange. It is used for a wide variety of applications, and a variety of demands are placed on its performance. Only a fraction of these demands could be met if paper consisted of fibres alone. It is only when other substances are applied in the form of natural and synthetic chemical additives that we are able to obtain the performance that we need.