Papers having a pH of 7.0 or more which do not contain the free acids that cause faster ageing which results in the premature deterioration of documents and books.

A method by which coating is applied by an applicator roll revolving in a pan of coating and applying heavy coating to the base paper which then passes round a backing roll where an air doctor (knife) smoothes and meters the coating to give the required coating weight. The process is normally used for high quality, heavily coated papers, and sometimes as the second unit for double coating, when it might follow blade or roll coating.

Papers made in the lightest grammages (usually below 40 gsm) for reasons of postage costs, but with strength and a good surface.

A good quality bulky paper, almost totally opaque, with a rough surface finish. The term comes from the period when paper was hand made, and was used to describe colour and finish. It can be made in white or in colours, be deckle-edged, and either laid or wove. It is often used for more expensive books.

Antique papers, but with feint laid lines which can be seen when holding a sample to the light.

Antique papers made from a mixture of different pulps, for example, chemical woodpulp and esparto grass.

Antique papers made from pulps manufactured by the chemical process, rather than mechanical or groundwood pulps.

See Acid Free Paper

General term for high quality off-machine coated papers and boards; gloss and matt; used for high quality reproduction.

Forest regeneration by sowing or planting, usually after final felling.

Biological Oxygen Demand. This expresses the amount of dissolved oxygen consumed by micro-organisms as they decompose organic material in water over 7 days.

Descriptive of a wide range of white and tinted uncoated printings and writings, usually woodfree furnish - higher grades with rag or cotton content. Banks are grammages less than 60 gsm. Wide spread usage - letterhead, stationery, office and business, copy work etc.

Paper made for conversion by the application of a surface coating.

Very thin printing papers, strong and opaque. Originally made for bibles and prayer books, this grade is also now in common use for commercial purposes, such as dictionaries, where many pages are required in small volume.

A substance that will decompose as the result of action by bacteria and other living organisms.

Biological diversity in nature at all levels of living organisms. Man influences the biodiversity mechanically through construction, cultivation and raw material supply, and chemically through municipal waste and industrial emissions.

Energy generated from renewable biomass i.e. living plants and plant components.

A method by which coating is applied to base paper. The coater consists of a large back-up roll around which the paper passes and at the base of which is the coating pan with an applicator roll applying coating to the paper. The surplus coating is metered off by a steel doctor blade that also serves to smooth the coating before the wet web passes into the drying section. Gives good smoothness with low coating weight.

Pulp which is chemically treated to give high whiteness, thus improving print contrast.

This term describes a packaging system which is a combination of board and plastics. The board, usually of the cheaper variety made from the lower grades of waste paper, can be lined on one or both sides, to carry a printed message or advertising. The product is sealed to the board by a transparent plastic film. This system is often used for packaging small products or difficult shapes and sizes.

Highly absorbent papers which may be watermarked, white or in colours.

A German environmental label, which covers many products, including paper. It takes a ‘cradle to grave’ approach, considering manufacture and disposal as well as product use.

A paper substrate in heavier grammages. The demarcation line between paper and board varies but generally in the UK it is accepted as being 160 gsm or 170 gsm.

The term applied to the printed dust cover or wrapper used to cover books or similar publications. Usually a strong, high quality one side coated grade. In fact, this grade may be virtually any type of paper which happens to attract the designer of the book concerned.

A fine quality paperboard which may be made solid by pasting two or more sheets together.

A paper mill term for paper waste arising from the manufacturing process. Usually recycled as part of the manufacturing process.

A method by which coating is applied by a cylindrical brush, roll or spray, whilst the web is supported. Produces papers with a heavy and smooth coating, a process now replaced by faster air knife and blade coaters.

British Standards Institution.

A mechanical content paper made to a specific caliper as opposed to a fixed grammage. This type of paper is used predominantly for paperback books.

Chemical Oxygen Demand. This measures the oxygen demand of all the impurities in water.

A method of using rollers during paper making, to impart a finish or smoothness. It reduces the thickness and increases the density. Papers are subjected to smoothing and polishing between stacks of highly polished steam heated rollers, either forming part of the paper machine (calendered/machine calendered) or as an off-machine process (supercalendered). Calender rolls on a supercalender may be arranged so that friction as well as pressing is created, resulting in friction glazed papers.

After use and recycling, wood based products such as paper decompose, releasing carbon dioxide. New forests established in place of those cut down remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Used for making one or more copies. The base paper is normally a thin tissue or other lightweight grade coated on one side with a mixture of carbon black or other colouring agent, and a chemical substance which acts as a carrier, depending on end use. The coating may be applied in different finishes, again depending on end use.

Self-copy or no carbon required paper comprises two sheets of paper, the underside of the top sheet being coated with a mixture containing colourless dye in minute gelatine capsules. The underneath sheet is coated with a mixture containing a special reactive clay which changes to black when penetrated by the colourless dye. Pressure applied to the top sheet causes the gelatine capsules to break and the black dye appears on the underneath sheet.

Papers originally used to form the tube section of a shotgun shell. Because of its strength this class of tough, rough surfaced paper is used for a variety of purposes, including drawing, for envelopes, and for covers. Offset cartridge is of special dimensional stability for offset printing. Coated cartridge is a cartridge paper coated with china clay for a wide variety of printing purposes.

Papers or boards having an extremely high gloss finish for top quality printing. The finish is obtained by the coating mix solidifying whilst in contact with a heated, polished surface.

Chain of Custody standards allow credible tracking of certified wood and wood products from certified forests through trade and manufacturing to committed retailers and consumers. In the paper industry this means being able to trace paper from the forest of origin, through pulp and paper mill, paper merchant and printer to the end user. A third party audits Chain of Custody systems, as with the FSC and PEFC schemes.

Papers which have been specially treated or sensitised during manufacture, in such a way as to prevent unauthorised alteration of documents.

A board made from waste paper used mainly in packaging, especially with a white liner and coating, but also for making the covers of case books.

A common element in the environment, used to purify water, used to make PVC and bleach pulp. A person weighing 70kgs contains 105g of chlorine.

A method used for 200 years for whitening paper fibres, now being replaced by other bleaching methods such as oxygen bleaching, as some of the chlorine compounds like dioxin are considered to be environmentally unfriendly.

A compound of chlorine and oxygen, it is the most selective of all known oxidising bleaching chemicals (i.e. lignin removing while cellulose preserving).

A term used to describe papers and boards that are heavily brush coated. Coating may be applied to one or both sides, depending on end use.

A method of forest regeneration in which all trees in a given area are felled. Such forest is regenerated.

Mature stage of a forest during which biodiversity is great but new wood production is small.

A concept for pulp mills, the aim being to recycle and recover the waste bleaching waters. The dissolved components are recovered and do not enter the effluent.

Paper (or board) coated on one or both sides with a mixture of china clay, latex and other loadings to fill up surface pits and improve the printing surface. There are a variety of coating methods, the most common on-machine coating method being roll coating. Off-machine processes include blade coating, air-knife coating, the traditional brush coating, or combinations of these types. A very high quality form of off-machine coating is cast coating.

All-waste furnish substrates made in multi-ply board making for use in solid fibreboard case manufacture (see also Liner).

A grade widely used for computer printing. The paper is in reel form printed and perforated. May be in duplicate and/or Manifold. A particular use is for invoices, statements and similar documents.

Lightweight grades of good quality and dimensionally stable papers used for xerographic copying and laser printing.

A grouping of substrates which may be plain, embossed coated etc., and which offer a very wide choice of materials for printing booklets, box coverings and many other purposes. Many cover papers are characterised by strength, flexibility and durability.

Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large, including the environment.

A metal roll formed by a wire mesh which is used on a papermaking machine to close up the sheet while it is in a wet state. This improves the look-through of the finished paper. There are two basic designs for the mesh, ‘wove’ and ‘laid’. The dandy roll also carries the watermark when required.

The maximum practical width the paper web can be made on the papermaking machine.

The four feathery edges on sheets of hand or mould-made paper, or the two feathery edges on machine made paper which are normally trimmed off before the paper is reeled on the end of the papermaking machine.

Suitability of recovered paper for de-inking which depends on paper grade, printing process used, age of paper and other factors.

The removal of printing ink and mechanical impurities by floatation and/or washing pulped waste paper before it is recycled.

The behaviour of paper and board with respect to its dimensions and flatness with variations in moisture content.

Aromatic chlorine compound. Its presence has been detected in the effluent systems of mills using the chlorine bleaching process.

A wide range of coated papers and boards used for display and exhibition purposes. Some grades may be metal lines or laminated.

The best grades are tub-sized, air-dried, with sheet surface textures varying according to use.

Grades made from two different webs (often different colours) combined whilst still moist during the manufacturing process, without the use of adhesive.

Unsized and semi-sized, these papers have a ‘built-in’ quick drying facility and are used on stencil duplicating machines.

Pulp which has been bleached with Chlorine Dioxide rather than Chlorine gas. Produces enormously reduced levels of Organo-chlorides and virtual elimination of Dioxins.

All living organisms – plants, animals and microbes – and their environment in a defined zone, e.g. the forest ecosystem.

Eco-Management and Audit Scheme. The European Union’s regulated environmental management system. Similar to ISO14001 but also requires public reporting.

A process whereby a relief image is formed on the paper or board surface by placing it under pressure between male and female un-inked dyes. Usually done as a separate operation after printing, but is also done on plain paper, and the embossed image can be a printed or unprinted area, in the latter case it is known as ‘blind embossing’. As the paper is distorted in the raised area it must be sufficiently strong to prevent rupturing.

The release of impurities from a source such as industry and farming.

A systematic approach to address environmental issues within a business. An EMS covers all facets of the operations and all employees. It allocates resources and assigns responsibilities and provides for the continual evaluation of practices, procedures and processes.

An examination of the operations of a company, organisation or authority in relation to the environment, e.g. emissions, occupational health and safety and the use of resources. It is carried out by independent, trained environmental specialists or auditors.

Similar to the NAPM scheme but only requires 50% of fibre to be recycled. For use Europe-wide but the uptake has been limited.

The European Eco-label, known as the ’EU Flower’, is a voluntary scheme designed to encourage businesses to market products that are genuinely a better choice for the environment. The EU Flower sets comprehensive standards for raw material, energy and water consumption, emissions, waste management, share of certified fibre and use of chemicals.

Adapted specifically to Finnish conditions, the Finnish Forest Certification system (FFCS) allows both forest certification and certification of the wood chain of custody. It does not have a product label of its own but is designed to fulfil the requirements of different international certification and labelling systems, enabling the use of these product labels. The Finnish system is also linked to the PEFC system.

Mineral matter (china clay, titanium dioxide, calcium carbonate, etc) which is added to the fibre content of paper to improve printing quality, whiteness and opacity.

The kind of paper surface imparted in the course of manufacture, e.g. antique, matt, machine or gloss finished.

Printing from a relief image with a rubber or plastic plate using liquid ink, either solvent or water based, plus pigment dyes, and is used mainly for packaging products.

De-inking process in which air is blown into a dilute fibre suspension. Ink particles adhere to the air bubbles and rise to the surface, where they are removed.

Something between a paper and a textile. The paper is the base on which flocking materials (e.g. wool, cotton, rayon or other fibres) are built up to achieve various finishes - suede, baize, velvet or plush.

A white base paper or board coated with a mixture of fluorescent pigment and binder, the latter being used to key the former to the surface. The coating is activated by ultra violet light, either by exposure to an actual ultra violet lamp or indeed to natural daylight.

A strong body or base paper is coated with an adhesive and a fine bronze powder, and subsequently burnished. Other metals such as tin, aluminium, and gold leaf may be used. Foil papers are used for box making, labels which carry printing, wrapping and decoration. Aluminium foils used for packaging purposes may be laminated to greaseproof papers, glassine, tissue, kraft etc., depending on end use.

Although box boards can vary in quality from grey board to high class board made from virgin fibre, the term today is usually taken to mean white lined boards made from a top quality furnish, coated, impregnated or laminated. A feature is that such boards have exceptional scoring and folding properties. They are used in the manufacture of high class cartons for a variety of purposes, and where outstanding printing surfaces are required.

Forest Stewardship Council is a non-profit international organisation promoting responsible forest management. FSC has developed principles for forest management which may be used for certifying the management of forest holdings, and a system of tracing, verifying and labelling timber and wood products which originate from FSC certified forests (Chain of Custody). PaperCo FSC Chain of Custody number is TT-COC-002075.

The nature and proportions of the materials used in making paper.

The Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN) is an association of worldwide eco-labelling organisation which set criteria to certify products and services with lower environmental burdens and impacts on the environment than comparable products with the same function. Currently GEN has 14 eco-labelling organisations as members, including The Blue Angel and the Nordic Swan.

A term applied to the machine direction of papers and boards, as opposed to the cross direction.

The weight of paper or board expressed in grams per square metre gsm as determined under standard test conditions.

Papers which have a high resistance to penetration by grease or fats found in various foodstuffs. The paper is produced by prolonged beating in the pulp stage, providing an end product which is close and to a degree transparent. Sizing adds the greaseproof characteristic. Widely used for wrapping foods.

Green Seal is an American eco-label which is awarded to products that are found to cause less harm to the environment than other similar products.

The natural greenhouse effect is necessary for all living species. An excessive greenhouse effect due to human activities is causing unwanted warming of the lower atmosphere. Certain gases in the atmosphere, such as water vapour and carbon dioxide, do not prevent short wave solar radiation from reaching the earth; but they do hinder the escape of the longer wave reflective radiation from the atmosphere. The latter thus heats the atmosphere, resulting in a greenhouse effect.

A board made entirely from waste paper. It may be lined or unlined and is used for a variety of packaging purposes.

A variety of different qualities are available, depending on the end use. Suitable body papers are web ‘coated’ with various types of adhesive, which will adhere to different surfaces.

Super quality papers made by the hand mould principle; tub sized and loft dried. Chiefly rag furnish (see also ‘Mould- Made’).

Short fibred pulp obtained from deciduous trees (e.g. birch, eucalyptus & poplar) which gives good printing quality and imparts high bulk, compressibility, and good opacity to the paper.

A body paper coated with an adhesive material which is activated by the application of heat. Sometimes known as heatfix papers, this grade is used largely for labels, and can be made to adhere to materials ranging from paper to metal.

This grade is usually a strong pulp board manufactured with a good surface suitable for printing and writing.

The International Standards Organisation (ISO) developed ISO 14001 as a global environmental management system that can be used by an organisation to achieve environmental performance goals. The ISO 14001 environmental management system incorporates a “Plan, Do, Check, Act” model based on an environmental policy that guides planning, implementation and operation, checking and corrective action and management review processes.

High quality board of one or more laminations of identical quality and having characteristic features of transparency and rigidity. Used for visiting cards and similar high-class printed work.

Used mainly for wrapping purposes, it takes its name from the German word Kraft, meaning strength. Made from virgin fibre, providing a high mechanical strength, it can be bleached or unbleached and may be unglazed, ribbed, machine glazed or treated by a process which provides increased stretch and softness. There are also grades which are bituminised and scrim-lined, used for special packaging purposes.

A large variety of various types of plain or coloured body papers which have been gummed or to which a self-adhesive material has been applied, and subsequently cut into a vast number of shapes and sizes depending on end use and surface application.

Papers with a ribbed appearance produced by a mould or dandy roll which has wires parallel to each other and not woven. The closely spaced lines parallel to the paper’s machine direction are laid lines, and the widely spaced ones in the opposite direction are chain lines (see also Wove).

Strong (fully hard) sized paper, traditionally rag containing, often azure in tint and watermarked. Intended primarily for record-keeping. Strength and proof against discolouration are important characteristics.

All stages in the lifetime of a product from raw materials through to use and disposal. It includes production of raw materials, the production, processing, storage, transport of materials and use, recycled and disposal.

Non-cellulose material found in wood and other cellulose plants. In the groundwood methods of pulp production the lignin is softened but not removed, and the papers made from groundwood pulp are weaker and more inclined to discolour on exposure to the atmosphere. In the chemical pulp making process most of the lignin is dissolved and the resulting papers are stronger and suffer less from discolouration.

Top layer of a vat-made board which is often the printing surface with a better furnish than the other layers.

Indicates the longest dimension of a sheet of paper, corresponds to the direction the paper travelled on the papermaking machine. When paper takes up or gives off moisture, it expands or contracts more in the cross direction, so ‘Long Grain’ paper minimises the total distortion, and is of great benefit for litho printing, but not exclusively so (see Short Grain).

(See Acid Free Paper)

Paper or board, which is pigment coated on the end of the paper or boardmaking machine.

The direction of paper and board corresponding with the flow of fibres on the papermaking machine, with greater stiffness than the cross direction. Traditionally the machine direction on a sheet of paper was parallel to the second dimension when written e.g. 640 x 900mm is long grain, and 900 x 640mm is short grain. The agreement is to place the letter ‘M’ after the dimension running parallel to the machine direction - 640 x 900mm(M) long grain, 640(M) x 900m short grain.

Paper which is calendered on the papermaking machine, but is not subsequently super- calendered to give a very smooth finish or gloss. Has good bulk which is of value for book work.

Paper which is dried on the papermaking machine by a very large cylinder with a polished surface, sometimes referred to as a Yankee drier. When being dried, the wire side of the paper, which is in contact with the cylinder, takes on a reproduction of the highly polished surface. The paper has a smooth and a rough side. MGpapers are used for wrapping papers and posters (see also Poster).

Bank paper quality, usually weighing less than 44 gsm (generally between 28-44 gsm).

Papers and boards used for making tags, high strength cartons, correspondence folders and many other articles where strength is at a premium. Furnish usually contains hemp rope pulp, and the product is usually machine glazed.

Special effect papers used largely as end papers in bookbinding; also in paper boxmaking and other purposes, such as designer work.

A coated paper with a dull, smooth finish.

Papers containing fibres only from the mechanical (i.e. groundwood) pulping processes (see also Woodfrees).

Produced by mechanical means and the cheapest of wood pulps, although having good printing qualities, high bulk and opacity. Failings are low strength and shade, the latter deteriorating quickly when exposed to light. Currently available with improved qualities, e.g. in strength (by thermo-mechanical treatment), shade (by bleaching) and with less shive (by more refining), and can now be used for better quality paper when mixed with chemical treated pulps.

Materials coated with an extremely thin layer (about 0.05 micron) of metal, usually aluminium, deposited from a vapour source under very high vacuum. Almost any substrate can be metallised, but for thin sheet materials polyester or polypropylene films are most commonly used, also paper and, more recently, cartonboard.

Papers calendered on the paper machine through a stack of metal rolls. Gives good bulk of value for bookwork (see also SC Printings & Writings).

All waste furnish board used for laminating to make solid fibre board cases.

A high grade board, brown in colour, made from rope and other materials. Very hard, tough, with a good finish. Used for covers of better quality account and other books.

Offcuts and rejected material that has not left the paper mill. Broke is routinely repulped and the fibre used in the production of new paper. Mill broke is not normally considered to be true recycled fibre.

Not to be confused with paper made by hand via a hand mould, these quality papers are made on a mechanical mouldmaking machine, producing papers with two genuine deckle edges plus possibly two imitation deckle edges (see also Hand-Made Papers).

These are boards manufactured from two or more layers at the same time and on the one multi-wire paper machine, sometimes using the same stock, but usually where a middle layer is included a different stock is used. The grade is of particular benefit where rigidity is important as well as a good print surface, for example, display cartons and covers (see also Triplex Board).

The National Association of Paper Merchants’ scheme for designating a paper as recycled. To qualify, a grade must contain at least 75% recycled fibre. Converters’ waste, printers’ waste and post consumer waste (from homes and offices) are all allowed (printed or unprinted) but not mill broke - the waste has to have left the mill. The remaining 25% can be mill broke or virgin fibre.

Internal sizing with a synthetic size giving the paper a pH of 7.0 which is essential for long life paper and those containing calcium carbonate. Depending on the use of the paper it will be hard, medium, or soft sized to control the degree of water absorbency.

One of the cheapest printing papers produced largely from mechanical pulp or groundwood supplied in both reels and sheets. The standard substance is in the range of 45 to 48 gsm.

An environmental label encouraging production methods that create minimum environmental impact. Evaluation for paper is based upon strict limits for emissions and effluent from pulp and paper mills.

(Optical Character Recognition)
Paper which is specially made for reading machines, having a tight specification on brightness, opacity and smoothness. Must be speck-free.

Good quality lightweight papers, may be glazed or unglazed, used for correspondence and other documents in the office.

(Process Coated)
Base paper which is coated as a separate operation from the actual papermaking.

A lightweight woodfree, or mechanical grade, coated with carbon black or other colouring matter and used with manifold forms (see also Carbon Paper).

Papers of a substance or type which prevent the passage of light. For example, a sheet with good opacity is one where the printing on one side cannot be seen from the other side under normal conditions.

Parchment, or parchmentised papers, have a high resistance to the penetration of grease and atmospheric humidity. Used largely for wrapping purposes, there are also grades of imitation parchments which are less impervious. Similar to greaseproof papers.

Contains two or more laminations of paper having a middle of lower quality.

The PEFC Council (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) schemes is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1999, which promotes sustainably managed forests through independent third party certification. The PEFC provides an assurance mechanism to purchasers of wood and paper products that they are promoting the sustainable management of forests. PaperCo is a PEFC Chain of Custody certified supplier - certificate number BMT-PEFC-0187.

The pH scale ranges from 0-14 units, and pH 7 is neutral. Values below 7 indicate increased acidity, values above 7 denote increased alkalinity. The scale is logarithmic, one unit change in pH value will indicate a ten-fold change in acidity or alkalinity. When reporting pH the testing method must be stated as results are dependent on the ratio of paper to water and test conditions. See PaperCo facts & figures for more information.

Used both as fillers and for coating. Mineral pigments such as calcium carbonate, clay, titanium, and pigmented dyes are used in paper.

Woodfree printed waste that has been used and discarded by the end user, typically homes and offices.

Litho paper with a quick-drying surface, used for outdoor poster work. Rough underside lends itself to rapid pasting. Can also be coated on both sides, the unprinted side including a dye to improve opacity.

Unprinted waste paper and board that has left the mill but has not reached the end user. Typically trimmings and rejected material from printers, envelope converters etc.

This is a German word widely used to describe a grade of board used for a variety of purposes, often industrial. It is of a light weight, glazed and extra hard, rolled and friction glazed.

Made from pulp as a homogenous sheet on a cylinder machine.

Old cotton or linen garments or clothing are one source for obtaining fibres for rag papers. The merit of using rag fibres, or part of the fibre furnish, is because they are a long fibre imparting dry and wet strength for special purpose papers, and also giving them a long life.

Paper and board that has been collected for reuse as raw fibre material in paper and board manufacture.

Pulp made from waste paper or board and used to make paper. It may or may not be de-inked. The quality of the fibres deteriorates with recycling, so paper cannot be endlessly recycled.

Paper made all or in part from recycled pulp.

A continuous length of paper wound on a coil, irrespective of diameter, width or weight. Reels may thus be rewound into smaller reels or slit into coils.

The percentage of the maximum amount of moisture the atmosphere can hold at a given temperature. With a constant amount of moisture in the atmosphere, raising the temperature will lower the relative humidity and lowering the temperature will make it higher.

Energy sources that can be replenished in a short period of time. The five renewable sources used most often include water, solar, wind, geothermal and biomass. Non-renewable energy sources consume carbon or nuclear based fuels.

Internal sizing used to control water being absorbed by the sheet and spreading across its surface. Depending on the paper type the degree of sizing used is hard, medium or soft, the first being most resistant to water. With its use, alum is necessary, making the finished paper acid and therefore unsuitable for papers containing calcium carbonate, which is decomposed by acid and is equally unsuitable for long life papers.

Papers which receive superior finish (matt and gloss) by passing through off-machine supercalender stack of chilled steel, granite, and ‘soft’ rolls.

Various grades of paper incorporating special identification features to assist in the detection and prevention of fraud.

Used essentially for labelling purposes, the grade has a self-adhesive coating on one side and a good surface suitable for printing on the other side. The adhesive is protected by a laminate which enables the sheet to be fed through the printing machine, the laminate subsequently being stripped when the label is applied.

Another name for carbonless papers.

Paper or board sheet with the longest dimension parallel to the paper’s cross direction. It is not suitable for printing colour registered work by sheet fed offset litho, when the sheet has to pass through the press for each side printed, e.g. four colour work on a single or two colour press.

A class of papers where the pulp is coloured separately with fast dyestuffs, darker fibres being added to produce a mottle-like appearance.

Additional materials added to paper fibres in order to resist the spontaneous penetration of aqueous liquids, particularly writing ink (see Neutral and Rosin Sizing).

Pulp obtained from softwoods (long fibre) such as coniferous trees, which imparts the strength properties to the paper.

The bulk of the solids emitted in pulp and paper mill effluent are clay (used as a filler), calcium carbonate and wood fibres.

This is a category of papers and boards which contain very high grade pulps, a percentage of which will be rag, cotton or other non-wood pulps. The product is also likely to contain a proportion of chemical pulp (woodfree) often associated with quality letterheads, textured and some embossed qualities.

This is a paper trade definition applied to such grades as off-machine coated, laminated, impregnated etc., as distinguished from printings and writings etc., and other grades which do not require further processing. Speciality papers and boards are often the raw materials for use by other industries. The electrical and instrumental industries are examples.

A term loosely applied to paper making material in all its stages, but usually referring to the wet pulp before it is fed on to the paper making machine.

Board made from straw pulp. Used principally for case book covers, cheap account books and rigid box-making. Not readily available nowadays.

These cause acidification of soil and water and are the biggest problem in making pulp by the sulphite method. Changing to the sulphite method and efficient flue gas scrubbing can significantly reduce sulphur emissions.

Sizing of paper web in the course of the paper making machine run (by size press). Opposite to engine sizing where size is added at the pulp stock stage.

Keeping the overall environmental impact from operation within different areas of society within the limits of what man, society and nature can sustain in the long term.

Materials made from synthetic fibres which have the characteristics of paper, but which are infinitely stronger. They may be printed and are often impervious to grease, oils, moisture etc. One important use for these materials is in maps.

Pulp which has been bleached with agents such as Oxygen or Hydrogen Peroxide, which contains no Chlorine compounds at all. Produces no detectable levels of Dioxins or Organo-chlorides above natural background levels.

Another name for pasteboard, although coated board can be included in this grade which is used for showcards or similar purposes. May be white or tinted.

Soft, lightweight papers plain or coloured. Widely used for hygienic and household purposes. May be in more than one ply. Other grades are used for lamination to such materials as aluminium foil and used for packaging.

A pigment used for a paper filling which has excellent properties for giving good opacity with high brightness. More expensive than clay or calcium carbonate but is invaluable for papers with low grammages that need good opacity, like Bible and/or diary paper.

The side of machine made paper which is not in contact with the wire. It has the better printing surface but the weaker surface strength. There are exceptions on MG, hand and mould made papers where the wire side may have the better printing surface (see also Wire Side).

Is an additional wire added to a conventional Fourdrinier paper making machine, and is a fairly recent development. It makes twin-wire paper, but with a difference, in that only one layer of fibre is produced. The top wire is positioned horizontally on the normal wire and the fibre is sandwiched between them. It may have either vacuum or foils to assist in the removal of water, which is its main purpose, and 40% of the total water can be removed.

Board manufactured from three stocks, one of which is waste (middle), with a different paper top and bottom.

The product of a paper machine which has two wires on which separate webs are formed and then brought together wire side to wire side before the pressing and drying operations, so that the finished sheet has two, identical high quality printing surfaces.

The normal characteristics of paper made on a single-wire machine. The two sides of the sheet differ in a number of properties, but when the variation exceeds what is intended or achievable, it will be termed ’Two Sided’.

A description of towns and cities that are a source of waste paper as one of the raw materials used for papermaking.

Papers with a strong, tough character and a high quality appearance, made to represent the fine smooth finish of a parchment made from animal skin, often used for certificates.

Volatile organic compounds.

Board or paper consisting of waste paper, packaging, cardboard or newsprint.

All the measures aimed at reducing water pollution. In industry, water conservation means reducing the emissions by closing the processes and efficient treatment of effluent.

A watermark is a design which is impressed into the paper when it is formed on the wire of the paper making machine. The design is carried by the dandy roll and is slightly proud of its surface. The slight pressure which is applied reduces the thickness of the paper, and when dry shows through, because it is less opaque.

The side of the paper web which was in contact with the wire on the paper making machine. Of the two sides it has the inferior printing quality but the stronger surface. A wire mark, the patterns of the wire mesh may be present, but the prominence of this has been much reduced by the use of plastic ‘wires’.

A term used to describe a paper which is free from groundwood, mechanical or thermo-mechanical woodpulp and which contains no fibres other than those from chemical wood pulp.

Paper produced with a plain wove pattern dandy roll.