AARC 



185 



Alternative Agricultural Research & Commercialization Center 



Pacific Northwest Partnership 

 Weaving Straw into Paper 



A partnership linking a major forest- 

 products company with Oregon State 

 University and the Oregon Department 

 of Agriculture could turn waste straw into a 

 tree-saving source for the specialty paper used 

 in making cardboard boxes. 



Weyerhaeuser Paper Company has made 

 a major commitment to studying whether 

 straw could be one answer to the problems 

 created by the logging restrictions that have 

 cut the supply and driven up the cost of 

 wood chips. Currendy, wood chips pro- 

 vide the fiber for Weyerhaeuser's pulp 

 and paper plants. One major product of 

 these plants is the "linerboard" brown 

 paper used to make the corrugated sheet- 

 ing used in cardboard boxes. 



Weyerhaeuser considers its "straw- 

 into-paper" project a high-risk investment 

 with "potentially serious impacts on the pulp- 

 ing process, paper-making process, box-mak- 

 ing, and the box customers." However, 

 Weyerhaeuser's forecast of substantial environ- 

 mental benefits if the project succeeds led the 

 company to earmark $209,000 to research 

 new technology for processing straw into 

 paper. Oregon State University and the 

 Oregon Department of Agriculture are con- 

 tributing S 1 50,000 to support this research. 

 A $350,000 investment by the Alternative 

 Agricultural Research and Commercialization 

 Center, a branch of the U.S. Department of 

 Agriculture, will be used to study methods for 

 collecting and storing straw. 



Straw provides a lower-quality fiber than 

 wood, so the challenge is to blend the two 

 fibers in a way that will meet the strength and 

 durability requirements for cardboard ship- 

 ping boxes. If the project turns straw into a 

 major feed stock for cardboard, the economic 

 and environmental payoffs should include; 



^ replacing wood with annually renewable straw in certain paper manufacturing processes. 

 ^ helping ehminate the air-pollution problems caused by farmers burning waste straw, 

 ^ turning a disposal problem into a new market for farmers' straw. 



Illustration tiy Ell Coumet 



Weyerhaeuser Paper Company, OR 



Sponsor's Contact: 

 Raw Material: 

 Product: 



AARC: 



Wayne H. Nay, (503) 741-5700 

 Annual Ryegrass Straw 

 Linerboard 



$350,000 



Cooperators Contributions (est.): $359,000 



USDA-AARC CENTER ♦ 12tti & C St. S.W. • Washington, DC 20250 

 Telephone: (202) 401-4860 • Fax: (202) 401-6068 



PnnleiS on recycled paper usir^g soyt>enn-base<t /nk 



