Non-wood fibre sourced from the agricultural and textile sectors, hold the potential to contribute to the sustainable growth of the pulp and paper sector, a new study from the Nova-Institute has concluded.
Commissioned by Cepi (The Confederation of European Paper Industries), the report suggests that materials such as straw, flax, and hemp, as well as textile waste, could help the pulp and paper industry diversify and increase the availability of non-wood fibre and drive future innovation in industry processes.
Recent years have seen an increased interest in paper and paper products made from non-wood fibre. A study commissioned by Cepi to the Nova-Institute, a German private research body, and carried on 33 producers of non-wood pulp, has concluded that the material streams hold potential to contribute to the sustainable growth of the pulp and paper sector.
Products already using non-wood fibres addressed in the study cover tissue, hygiene, printing, technical, security, and specialty paper, as well as board, including for food packaging.
These developments would also help the agricultural and textile sectors in becoming more circular, benefiting from the long expertise of the pulp and paper industry in recycling and the ecodesign of products.
The study also covers the potential limitations of using non-wood pulp, including in land-use or stemming from applications in other sectors. In some cases, it would require the development of entire value chains which do not exist yet.
Experts from the Nova-Institute observe that any challenges are to be balanced with the specific functionalities and qualities of some non-wood fibres, in addition to the positive effects on sustainable sourcing and product diversification.
“The sustainable management of our raw material sourcing remains, along with our high level of circularity, the defining features of our industry. Non-wood fibres have a role to play and will be an additional component of the paper mills and recycling mills of the future,” said Jori Ringman, director general, Cepi, Confederation of European Paper Industries.
“Most importantly, paper industry can offer here a sustainable solution for using, resource-efficiently and towards a higher value added, a stream that may not have been used or was a problem before.”
The timely release of the report lands ahead of Products of Change’s own first Paper Workstream, kicking off this week to begin work on a collaborative cross-sector effort to find sustainable solutions for the paper and printing industries.
The Workstream will be led by Duncan Shearer, Products of Change’s new ambassador for the paper industry. Anyone wishing to attend the first workstream meeting can do so here.
