Small pulp and paper mills in developing coutries.

The paper shortage in many developing countries has become a major obstacle to the production of indigenous school books and newspapers. This obstacle may be viewed as the result of restrictive conditions on the world paper market. On the basis of an analysis of these conditions (economic ecological, technological) this volume illustrates that the developing countries can only establish a self-sufficient paper Industry suited to their particular situation by adopting the following strategy: paper production should be based on the use of non-wood fibres available in the specific country (rice straw, bamboo, bagasse) and on small-scale production units.

This volume contains articles by paper specialists from 12 countries: Burma, Canada, PR of China, Cuba, Germany, India, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand and the United Kingdom. While the articles represent a truely interdisciplinary approach with a joint emphasis on the social sciences and on paper engineering, a further emphasis lies on problems of pollution control and process technology. Out of the 20 articles in this volume 5 articles concentrate on the situation in India.