The History & Evolution of Paper

Paper was first originated in China, let's see how it expanded its root to rest of the world. Now, it is a primary material in packaging in the form of brown paper bag, white kraft paper bags etc.

1) In the second century, a Chinese court official named Tsai Lun produced a sheet of paper made from scraps of old rags, tree bark, and fishing nets. Over time, the Chinese learned the art of producing good quality paper which was used for writing or painting scrolls by Chinese royalty and nobility.

2) The Chinese guarded the secret of producing paper till the 6th century when a Buddhist monk visited Japan. Japanese immediately took a liking to paper and started using mulberry bark pulp for the production of paper. Similar to China, Paper was a precious commodity in Japan and was limited to royalty and nobility and slowly became a part of the culture in the higher societies of Japan. The Japanese even used paper as a part of raw material to construct the inner walls of their houses.

3) By the 8th century, the art of paper making fell into the hands of Arabs when a Chinese paper-making factory in Samarkand was captured by an Arab army. With the abundance of rags and rice starch, The Arab conquerors used the expertise of the Chinese paper-makers to set up factories from the western borders of China to North Africa. Islamic artists and artisans created a widely accepted fashion culture around the paper which was used only in exclusive objects, such as paintings, decorations, and books. Then crusades for territories took it to different parts of the world.

4) It was in the 11th Century when paper reached Europe for the first time after the Arab conquest of Sicily and Spain. However, Paper was quickly considered an inferior-quality material compared to parchment (paper-like structure made from Animal skin), so much so that, Roman Emperor Frederick II prohibited its use for public documents. Rice starch was an attractive food source for insects, which meant sheets of paper did not last long. It took an upturn in the 12th Century when paper makers of Fabriano, a small town in Italy started producing paper using hemp and linen rags. They also started gluing sheets with gelatine, an additive that repelled insects. And slowly, paper mills started springing all across Europe. First, they appeared in France and Italy, moved north to Germany, and the Netherlands, and by the 15th century reached England. However, this did not mean that paper was suddenly cheaper and more available to everyone. On the contrary, the paper was then still expensive, and less durable than parchment.

5) By the end of the 17th century, paper-making factories were using 24 million tons of rags per year, and supplies of the raw material fell short of requirements.

The search for a cheap, readily available, and easily renewable substitute began.

A French biologist observed that wasps’ nests were made of a form of paper which the wasps produced by macerating wood and he suggested that wood might be a suitable material for papermakers to use. The first recorded use of wood for paper-making in Europe was in 1769 but it was not until 1840 that paper made entirely from wood pulp appeared. The first newspaper to be made from an all-wood pulp, the New York Times, appeared in 1870.

6) The paper-making process was made faster and cheaper by the invention of the Fourdrinier papermaking machine and became widespread across Europe and North America during the 19th century. The ability to create a continuous roll of paper powered by steam machinery instead of using individual paper moulds for forming only a sheet of paper, revolutionized the paper industry completely, enabling it to become an integral part of our modern history.

Today, we stand at the forefront of climate change and the need for sustainable and recycled paper is more than ever. We need a thriving circular economy, as the paper is also limited and cannot be regenerated at a very quick pace.

We are playing our part in converting the 100% recycled kraft paper into paper carry bags. If you are looking to become a part of this circular economy and looking to contribute to the fight against climate change, contact us for your carry bag needs.