We depend on this paradoxical
material. Little can happen in modern life without paper or board (a particular
form of paper) and millions of tonnes of it are made and used each year.
Paper is incredibly versatile:
it can be permanent or transient, delicate or strong, cheap or expensive, abundant
or scarce. It can be preserved in a museum or thrown away. It can decompose in
water and yet, when suitably treated, it can be used to make maps that withstand
the weather and even the hulls of boats.
Paper may be impregnated, enamelled, metallised, made to look like parchment,
crêped, waterproofed, waxed, glazed, sensitised, bent, turned, folded,
twisted, crumpled, cut, torn, dissolved, macerated, moulded or embossed. It may
be coloured, coated and printed. It can be marked and then the mark erased. It
can be laminated with itself or with fabric, plastic or metal. It can be opaque,
translucent or transparent. It may be made to burn or be made fire-resistant.
It may be used as a carrier, a barrier or a filter. It may be made tough enough
to withstand acid or soft enough for a baby's skin. It can be read from, laid
on or worn as a garment. It may disintegrate or it may be reused, but it is,
overall, biodegradable and comes from an infinitely renewable resource.
All around us paper has been used as part of our everyday life. The range of
possible uses for paper is almost limitless and new ways of using it are being
devised daily.
This text was provided courtesy of the Confederation of Paper Industries www.paper.org.uk
