Chipboard, Cardboard + Paper Scraps

Yiming Zhang

ARCH 5500: Processing the Anthropocene

Repurposing discarded paper-based materials from the A-School model making process.

PAPERBOARD

According to ISO standards, paperboard is a paper with a grammage above 250 g/sqm. In 1817, the first paperboard carton was produced in England. Folding cartons first emerged around the 1860s and were shipped flat to save space, ready to be set up by customers when they were required. The mechanical die cutting and creasing of blanks was developed in 1879. In 1911 the first kraft sulphate mill was built in Florida. In 1915 the gable top milk carton was patented and in 1935 the first dairy plant was observed using them. Ovenable paperboard was introduced in 1974.

The pulp and paper sector was responsible for just under 2% of all emissions from industry in 2022. More than 40 million tons of paper and paperboard products are recycled annually in the United States at a recycling rate of around 65% each year. Paper accounts for around 26% of landfill waste and 33% of municipal waste. Based on volume, paper is the largest element in American landfills. Paper products that are left in the environment to decompose can take anywhere from 2 to 5 months to disappear.