Technology Transfer and Local Innovation: Pulp and Paper Manufacturing in New Zealand, c.1860 to c.1960

Abstract

This chapter surveys the evolution of papermaking in New Zealand over roughly one century, specifically from the 1860s when paper was manufactured from rags and waste paper until about 1960, by which time there were pulp and paper mills in operation serving local and export markets. A distinctive feature of the New Zealand scene was that the wood pulp was sourced from exotic plantations largely comprised of Pinus radiate , a Californian species previously untried for papermaking. Ownership of the plantation forest estate was divided between the state and private companies. The state had long planned for a pulp and paper industry and sought to shape its structure but ultimately the companies were able to develop separate processing schemes. Both state and industry depended upon pulping trials conducted in the United States, while the technological solution to pulping sappy southern pines in the US also gave hope that Pinius radiata would be suitable for newsprint. Other organisational models and technical assistance came, however, from Scandinavia, although some technical problems were solved locally. The establishment of a pulp and paper industry in New Zealand became the life’s work of a small number of individuals working both in the Forest Service and for private companies, and many conflicts occurred along the way.