9. The Circular Economy-Oriented Practice in the Papermaking Industry

The papermaking industry is closely related to the development of national economy and the progress of social civilization, internationally regarded as an “inexhaustible” industry. It has become one of the ten major pillar manufacturing industries in those economically developed countries like the United States, Canada, Japan, Finland and Sweden. Different from the ordinary consumer goods industry, the modern papermaking industry is a technology-intensive, capital-intensive, resource-intensive and energy-intensive basic materials sector featuring continuous, efficient production and noted scale merits. More than 80 % of its output has been used in the fields of press, publication, printing, and commodity package and some other industrial sectors, while less than 20 % has been directly consumed by people. Featuring a high industrial relevance, the papermaking industry is reaching out to the industries of forestry, agriculture, machine manufacturing, chemical engineering, thermal power, transportation, and environmental protection, and plays a role in driving the economic development of its upstream and downstream industries. Its product mix covers paper pulp, machine-made paper and paperboard, converted paper, and hand-made paper etc.