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Paper Made From Recycled Stone
Karst Stone Paper is "creamy, velvety, silky" to draw on
An Australian company called Karst has figured out how to make paper from stone. Not just any stone; recycled stone from the construction and mining industries.
The resultant paper has a "creamy, velvety, silky" feel and takes ink well. "Our paper is unlike anything you've ever drawn on," they write. "Completely friction-free, pens glide across our pages because there is no grain direction, and ink never bleeds through. The result is a truly pleasurable writing experience."
The paper is tear-resistant, but can be cut with scissors, and it can be folded. It's also waterproof.
So how the heck do they make it?
"We take dust and make paper. We combine calcium carbonate with resin. Add heat and pressure. Karst Stone Paper™ is 80-90% crushed stone (calcium carbonate) and 20-10% non-toxic resin which is used to bind the stone particles. The end product is very similar to traditional wood-pulp paper, however, it's waterproof, smoother, brighter, and more durable than traditional paper. Karst Stone Paper is ISO 14001:2004 certified, alongside ROHS, REACH and FDA. Most importantly, our stone paper has the C2C environment certificate."
Despite containing resin, the company says their paper is "Recyclable, photodegradable, and compostable in commercial landfill." They also reckon it's a lot more sustainable than tree-based paper.
"Responsible business practices go hand-in-hand with good design. Karst Stone Paper outperforms its traditional counterpart in the amount of CO2, water, and energy saved. Additionally, our material has a manufacturing footprint that is 60% lower than traditional pulp paper.
"No trees, no water, no bleach, no acids, and no toxic chemicals are used to make stone paper. Regular pulp paper requires 18 large trees and an immense amount of energy to produce. Recycling regular pulp paper is also limited to a number of cycles."
I'm dying to try the paper out, though it is a tad pricey. A 144-page A5 notebook runs $29.
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Comments
And I would never have known about it's existence if it wasn't for Core77
Not exactly "sustainable' unless they've figured out how to grow rocks.... It also uses the by-product of a very resource intense process. You couldn't make this paper without a functioning mine.
Being super smooth and waterproof aren't properties that I think of in paper for a notebook. It sounds like it may be similar to mylar or yupo, which are great, but not the best general purpose papers either.
The article intro stating “Karst has figured out how to make paper from stone” is inaccurate, stone paper has been around for about a decade: https://www.wired.com/2013/02/stone-paper-notebook/
Good spot!
“Non-toxic resin” in my opinion is a marketing term. Many plastics could conceivably be described as non-toxic. This Fast Company article indicates Karst paper is HDPE, same as the predecessors:
The Fast Company article doesn't indicate that the resin is HDPE. It does expand a bit upon Karst's claims "it composts if there is enough heat"... which isn't what I'd call biodegradable.