QUALITY REQUIREMENTS IN THE FORESTS OF THE FUTURE

Abstract

World demand for paper is growing rapidly. Although Canada will continue to be the leading exporter of paper in the immediate future, there will be increasing competition from fast growing man-made forests of the tropics and subtropics. Competition from non-cellulose materials will also increase. To meet these challenges, the quality of Canadian pulp and paper products must be improved while keeping costs to a minimum.The conventional methods of pulping have been tuned up to a high pitch, and virtually any species can now be utilized. The paper maker, by manipulating his raw material and by the use of additives, can produce paper with widely different properties; but such operations add to costs, and the closer the raw material approaches to the paper maker's requirements, the lower these costs will be.Although the manner in which fibre characteristics influence paper properties has been studied for a number of years, little of this work can be directly related to Canadian species, about which we need to know a lot more.With increasing knowledge of the properties of our different species and the ability of the pulp and the and paper technologist to use each efficiently, it is suggested that the emphasis will shift to maximum economic production of wood substance in terms of weight, as opposed to production by volume of merchantable wood. This will likely bring changes not only to our concept of the 'ideal tree', but also in the management of forests and silvicultural treatment of stands. Utilization of tops and branches in certain cases must also be given serious consideration. In addition to low cost cellulose, Canada must continue to produce a proportion of top quality fibres such as those of the northern spruces.Much of the above can be applied to the sawmill industry where low costs and high quality are again the key requirements.In the future the forester will be called upon not only to plan and tend the forests; he must also take complete responsibility for delivery directly to the mill, sawmill or factory, according to a master plan, of material of a pre-determined character.