Museum of Science and Industry

Make Recycled Paper

Turn used paper into new paper, and do something good for the environment.

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Lesson at a glance

Create new paper by recycling used paper. How can we conserve resources and recycle materials?

Students Will Know:
Paper recycling - The process of recovering waste paper and making it into new paper
Students Will Be Able To:
Make new paper from used paper

Illinois Learning Standards

Late Elementary<//strong><//strong></><//>
State Goal 11: 11.A.2a; 11.A.2b; 11.A.2c
State Goal 12: 12.E.2c
State Goal 13: 13.B.2d
State Goal 17: 17.C.2c  
Middle / Junior High School
State Goal 11: 11.A.3a; 11.A.3b; 11.A.3c
State Goal 12: 12.E.3c
State Goal 13: 13.B.3f

Background information

Paper can be made from a variety of materials such as wood pulp, rice or cotton, as long as the material contains fiber. Most of the paper we use is made from trees and recycled paper. A single piece of paper may contain new fibers and well as fibers that have already been recycled once or more. Papermaking fibers can typically be recycled five to seven times before they become too short to be recycled again.

During the paper recycling process, ink is removed from paper in a process called de-inking. Recovered paper is chopped up and mixed with water to make a slurry. The slurry is put through a series of washing processes that use water and soap-like chemicals called surfactants to remove the ink. The slurry is put into a machine with a long, moving screen that allows water to drip through the screen. The slurry then moves through a part of the machine that presses and dries the pulp.