Volume 3, Number 1
Mar 1990

Other Kinds of Alkaline Paper

There are other kinds of alkaline paper besides that used for books and letterhead. one of the earliest uses for Aquapel was for sizing of board for milk cartons--they had to be alkaline for fiber strength, and they had to be sized to keep the milk from leaking out. Appleton Papers makes a lot of carbonless paper, all of it alkaline. (This is the kind of paper that contains dye activated by pressure.) Appleton has three mills, with a total of 10 paper machines. Eight of the ten are 100% alkaline and have been for some time. The overall brand name of the carbonless paper is "NCR," which stands for "National Cash Register," the company that sold the process to them. Appleton is the largest manufacturer of carbonless and thermal paper in the world.

Electrical insulating paper has to retain its properties over many years, so it is made alkaline for permanence. Roofing paper and wallboard are made alkaline for the same reason nowadays. Papers made of high-yield pulps (CTMP, NSSC) may be made at a higher pH with a calcium carbonate filler to compensate for their natural tendency to age faster, due to the presence of lignin and hemicelluloses. Release-base backing labels (for labels) is made alkaline at James River-Massachusetts' mill, and perhaps at other mills as well.

Shawano Paper Mills, in Wisconsin, makes only specialty papers (absorbent papers, anti-tarnish, filter, wet strength, wrapping tissue, etc.), and they have been alkaline since 1981. Their papers are sold in jumbo rolls.