Proceeding Articles

The image quality, paper handling and archival specifications of non-impact printing technologies such as ink jet, electrophotography, thermography, etc. impose special requirements on the substrate. For economic and practical reasons, paper will continue to be the substrate predominantly used. This situation presents new opportunities for the paper industry at a time when traditional markets, such as newsprint, are being eroded by the proliferation of electronically-accessed data bases.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Fellow Researchers.

Firstly, I must thank the Conference Committee and the British Paper and Board Industry Federation for inviting me to do this important but difficult job.

There is one advantage in being the summary speaker. I can say anything I like. I have no preprints, no abstracts, not even very much in the way of guidelines. I have complete freedom. All I have to avoid is saying anything bad about my boss, because he’s right there in the audience. So be clear about one thing: the very best talk at this symposium will be that given by Mr. Burgess later on this morning, and I urge you all to listen well.

So, having said that, I can go on to say something about what has happened here during the last four days.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Since 1957, when the first of these quadrennial symposia was held, we have been reporting on the fruits of research carried out in our industry. It occurred to the organisers of these conferences that it was time to look not only at the products of research, but also at its process, or processes. This is such an obvious conclusion, it is almost unnecessary to discuss it beyond the bare statement I have just made.

Yet there are other more subtle reasons why today’s session is particularly timely.

WAPRI exists to provide a forum for discussion between directors of research institutes engaged in research work on the science and technology of the pulp and paper-making and allied industries. It currently comprises 22 members and these are mainly the central research institutes of the western pulp and paper-making world. Non-confidential information is exchanged between the institutes.

In addition to describing the activities of WAPRI this paper summarises the research activity (in non-confidential areas) of the subscribing institutes and provides information on the management and funding of those institutes.

As a result of the foresight, imagination and initiative of a few technical people and executives in the Canadian pulp and paper industry in the early 20’s, the Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada was created 56 years ago to serve the industry. Its establishment recognised the fact that, even in those early days, the industry needed research and development, and that it would need to train scientists. Thus, right from the outset, PAPRICAN has had two broad missions:

1. To do research of importance to the industry:

2. To train scientists and technical personnel for the industry.

However, an appreciation of the nature of the Canadian pulp and paper industry is essential to an understanding of the development of PAPRICAN and of its programme.

Most EEC countries have institutes concerned with research and development for the pulp and paper industry. These institutes are either independent establishments, such as PIRA in Great Britain or the Centre Technique in France, or they are part of larger institutions, such as the paper department of TNO in Holland or the Institute of Paper Technology of the Technical University of Darmstadt in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Budgets and personnel and hence the capacity of the research institutes vary considerably, characterised by a total staff of 12 persons minimum to 185 persons maximum. Accordingly, the budget varies between US$ 0.8 – 7 M per institute. The funding of the EEC research institutes is done in various ways, either by the government, or mixed, in the form of government and industrial contributions.

A few years ago the EEC commission in Brussels initiated a new funding incentive for certain projects.

Since the various research institutes already existed before the EEC was founded, it is not surprising that research strategies continue to have a strong national bias. The multi national character of research is still under-developed. The reason for this is, among other things, that the paper industries in some EEC countries regard international research with a certain suspicion. In addition, active communication and cooperation in research and development are impeded by the fact that much energy must be expended for raising funds . This is bound to lead to pronounced formalisation and to tactical biases in those bodies which are concerned with research and its contents.

As a contribution to the discussion of the research and development process in publicly funded institutes working in the pulp and paper field, the effort in the CSIRO division of Chemical Technology, Melbourne, is described under the following headings: function: the Division as part of CSIRO: staff: research programmes: research administration: funding: career structure and remuneration: interaction with industry and other outside bodies: and achievements. Brief reference is made to pulp and paper laboratories in neighbouring countries, which are usually part of a Forest Research Institute.

In connection with the theme of this Symposium, it appears that the relationship between fundamental research and papermaking can be traced through the Proceedings of previous Symposia, as shown for example by the impacts of the hydrogen, bonding theory on paper strength, the theory of electrokinetic interactions on paper formation, the theory of glass transitions on high yield pulping, the understanding of fibre morphology on resource extension and the theory of hydrodynamics on wet end improvements.

Fundamental research is a long term activity and the results will generally not have an influence on industrial development for a long time. It is however essential for the progress of the industry, but cannot be justly evaluated by any short-term economic formula.

Fundamental research in the Swedish pulp and paper industry is today mainly carried out at the Swedish Forest Products Research Laboratory (STFI). STFI is a collective research institute and is financed jointly by the pulp and paper industry, through the Pulp and Paper Association and by the state, through the National Swedish Board for Technical Development (STU). The budget for STFI amounts to 60m SKr of which approximately 70% is financed by the basic agreement between the state and the industry, whereby the state carries a share of 42% and the industry 58%. The remaining 30% of the budget is financed by different funds and from contract research.

The pulp and paper industry together with the state also supports research at a number of other institutes, such as the Swedish Water and Air Pollution Research Institute (IVL), the Institute for Surface Chemistry, the Swedish Packaging Research Institute, and the Graphic Arts Research Laboratory (GFL). The necessary coordination of the different activities is in the hands of a research committee organised by the Pulp and Paper Association which has to formulate the R & D policy of the industry and to propose to the board of the Association how the available funds should be distributed among the different institutions and research projects. The industry is represented on the board of STFI, in the advisory research council of the Institute, and in a number of special committees for different research areas.

The primary missions, Research, Education and Information, of the Institute are discussed. The overall organisation, operation and funding of the Institute are described. The process for developing research priorities and programmes and assessing progress is discussed with emphasis on the benefits of industry-institute interactions. An assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of our present mode of operation is presented.

Organisation of research in the paper industry in socialist countries is dealt with, giving data on participation of state owned institutes, universities and mills, on sources of financing, on co-ordination by governmental institutions, and on the percentage of fundamental research.

Co-operation within the framework of bilateral agreements or of the Council of Mutual Economic Co-operation is discussed, and some examples of such common projects are given. Some achievements in fundamental and applied research are listed. Research centres in eastern and western countries are compared.