STONE PAPER

“Stone paper” is also known as rock paper, paper from waste marble, mineral paper, or rich mineral paper. Stone paper is a product resembling paper. It is strong and durable; made from calcium carbonate with a binder of high density polyethylene (HDPE).

Stone paper is a term that describes a number of formulas for papermaking which basically contain calcium carbonate which can come from waste rock, marble and tiles, not from plant fibers. The main content of rock paper is calcium carbonate which comes from stone (rock); so that stone paper is sometimes also called rock paper. Stone paper is made from stone which is crushed into powder form, mixed with a non-toxic and recyclable binder, i.e. HDPE.

Stone paper containing 80% limestone and 20% recycled polyethylene have been produced by a printing industry in Germany. The mixture of raw materials used are claimed environmentally friendly and can be used for several printed products such as posters, leaflets, up to bag products, and used by farmers for labels and coatings of pot. This paper can be used as a substitute for polypropylene because it is more water resistant, ultra violet (UV) resistant, with high tear strength, even higher than ordinary paper. In addition, stone paper can be even written when it is in wet condition.

Rock paper is claimed to be very environmentally friendly paper. It is different from conventional paper because it does not use wood pulp as its raw material. The technology for making stone paper is also claimed not to pollute air and water; no chlorine or acid compounds used, and the resulting stone paper is really non-toxic and even food safe. It is also believed that the stone paper production process improves air, soil and water quality, and reduces energy consumption.

The basic difference between stone paper and conventional paper is in terms of the raw materials used. Conventional paper uses plant fibers as raw material and a lot of water in the production process, while stone paper does not use plant fibers and water at all in its production process. In addition, stone paper production produces low carbon emissions, no acid, base nor bleaching chemicals require, and stone paper can be recycled.

Another interesting thing from the technology of stone paper making process is that the investment costs of production equipment are 40% lower than conventional paper mills for the same production capacity. This is due to no water used in the production process. In other words, the factory does not need to install a water treatment unit, so that it can reduce investment and energy costs.

Stone paper is a shortened form of environmentally friendly inorganic powder rock paper, the name in the paper industry called “synthetic paper”. It’s a kind of variety processing paper. As the main raw material of calcium carbonate from the earth’s most abundant mineral resources combining with polymer materials and various inorganic materials for the auxiliary, stone paper is made by the world’s leading advanced technologies which solve the traditional paper-making harm to the environment pollution problems, but also solve the white pollution and plenty waste of oil problems.

Inorganic Powder Environmental Protection Stone Paper (hereinafter referred to as Stone Paper) is made by huge storage and wide distribution of limestone mineral resources for main raw material (calcium carbonate content for 70 ~ 80%), combining with the high polymer material of raw materials (content is 20 to 30%), using polymer interface chemical principle and the characteristics of the polymer modification, under treatment of a special technology through the polymer extrusion and blow workmanship. Stone paper not only own the same writing and printing characters of plant fiber paper, but also has the core characters of plastic packing materials.

Using 85% 1500-2500 meshes super fine powder of calcium carbonate from limestone combining with 15% additive making into master batch convert into paper or bags through extrusion blown film equipment.

Stone paper (also known as rock paper, paper from waste marble, mineral paper, or rich mineral paper) is a paper-like product manufactured from calcium carbonate bonded with high-density polyethylene (HDPE). It is used for stationery, leaflets, posters, books, magazines, bags, packaging, wallpaper, adhesives, tags, in-mould labels, plates, trays, containers and many other uses.

The process for creating stone paper was first developed by the Lung Meng Tech Co. of Taiwan during the late 1990s. Stone paper has been patented in over 40 countries, where it is marketed under a variety of trade names such as MIST™ Paper, Parax Paper™, Terraskin™, ViaStone™, Kampier™, EmanaGreen™ and Rockstock™, Pixz Printing™.

Stone Paper is nicknamed as Shiliao Paper (Shiliao is a Chinese term and it means the paper made from the stone). The raw material of the Stone Paper consists of 80% limestone powder and 5% adhesives. Because no wood pulp is needed in order to make this kind of paper, no tree will be doomed to die for the production of this paper. The birth of this paper poses a new challenge to the traditional paper industry and it will establish a new era of paper making.

Because no water and no wood pulp are needed during the production of environment-friendly Stone Paper and no additions such as the bleaching powder, strong acid and alkali in the process, there are no by-products such as waste gas, waste water and waste cinders. So there is no environment pollution problem during its making process. It is a totally zero-emission technology.

Stone Paper retains the goodness of the traditional wood pulp paper and is better in safety and physical stability. It has unique features such as water proof, moisture proof, anti-fogging, anti-oil, pest control, tear-resistant, crack-resistant, corrosion resistance, fire-resistant, solid ink absorption, and clear color printing (the resolution is up to 2880clpi).

Stone Paper can be used in wide areas. It can be used as office paper, commercial paper, cultural paper, and printing paper. It can also be used in industrial packaging. Besides, it can be used as special purpose paper such as fieldwork paper, underwater operations paper, underground mining operations paper, or other military special-used paper. It can be used wherever wood pulp paper is used. With the newly developed SPC stone granule technology which can replace many plastic products, the application area of stone paper is further expanded. The newly developed SPC stone granule technology has great energy-efficiency significance considering the increasingly strained oil resource in the world.

Stone Paper is truly one-of-a-kind, environmentally friendly paper; beginning with sourcing raw materials to production, end-use and finally degradation or recycling. It functions as paper, performing and often surpassing all requirements for a multitude of conversions and print jobs.

Stone Paper is not a synthetic paper, it is simply a very durable paper made from stone. No other paper can compare to Stone Paper; this ecological paper is an intelligent choice for all applications demanding durable, superior and environmentally-friendly paper. Stone Paper is an excellent alternative for all types of eco-friendly packaging and purely ecological printing needs.

The following is an illustrated calculation of a Stone Paper user’s contribution to preserve our natural resources by replacing 1 ton of virgin coated paper with 1 ton of Stone Paper.

Stone Paper is photo-degradable, it reverts back to calcium carbonate when left out in sunshine and natural conditions without any harmful effects. As it photo-degrades (around 12 months for RP in direct UV light, and 18months+ for RB) it will look and feel like broken egg shells which continually crack until they again become stone powder (CaCO3).

The global stone paper market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 2.6% during 2021-2026.

It is intended to prepare a Feasibility Report to install a Stone Paper production facility with an installed capacity of 5000 Tons / Year as a Green Field Project.