For base-paper production, the main raw material for tissue paper is cellulosic pulp. A converting business instead buys jumbo rolls of tissue paper to turn into finished rolls or packs. This guide focuses on pulp selection for making base paper.
Common options include prepared hardwood and softwood pulps, bamboo pulp, and suitable recycled or deinked pulp. Choosing between them requires more than comparing fiber names: buyers need to match the actual pulp grade to the intended tissue, the available stock preparation system, and consistent commercial supply.
Start with the product specification. Toilet tissue, facial tissue, napkins and towels have different quality priorities. A furnish—the fiber mixture used to make the sheet—should be evaluated against those priorities before a purchasing decision is made.
First Define What Your Facility Will Buy
A tissue mill buying dried market-pulp bales receives fibers that have already been separated from the original plant material. Chemical pulp production and drying take place upstream. UPM describes this route as separating fibers, washing and screening the pulp, then drying it for shipment. Buying prepared pulp therefore differs substantially from planning to pulp wood chips or bamboo at the tissue site. UPM: From wood to market pulp.
Record the incoming material clearly: purchased pulp bales, an existing prepared-stock supply, recovered paper, or raw plant material. Each represents a different project boundary. A business buying tissue parent rolls for converting has another starting point: it is purchasing paper already formed and dried, rather than pulp for making base paper.
Compare Pulp Grades by Their Intended Role
Hardwood and Softwood Pulp
Hardwood pulps, including eucalyptus and birch, generally have shorter fibers and are commonly selected to support softness. Softwood pulps, including pine and spruce, generally have longer fibers and contribute strength. Combining them allows tissue producers to adjust the balance for a particular product; the proportion is not universal. UPM: Different fiber types and end uses.
Ask suppliers to identify the specific grade and production mill. “Wood pulp” alone is too broad for a purchase specification. Compare candidate grades under the same test conditions, and use the current furnish as a reference when assessing a substitution.
Bamboo Pulp
Bamboo pulp is a non-wood option worth evaluating by grade, processing history and measured properties. Research comparing ten market pulps found useful combinations of strength, softness and absorbency in the bamboo pulp tested. However, the work used laboratory, uncreped handsheets; it does not establish a universal replacement ratio or guarantee performance in a commercial tissue process. BioResources: Comparison of wood and non-wood market pulps.
For a proposed bamboo furnish, request a representative sample and the supplier’s data. Specify whether the pulp is bleached or unbleached, identify the target tissue appearance, and agree on trial acceptance criteria before changing the production furnish.
Recycled and Deinked Pulp
Distinguish purchased deinked pulp from recovered paper that will be processed on site. Recovered-paper processing must address variable incoming quality and contaminants such as adhesives, metals and ink. Its equipment and operating requirements include fiber treatment and appropriate handling of water, rejects and sludge. ANDRITZ identifies these as central challenges in recycled-fiber preparation. ANDRITZ: Recycled fiber production.
Ask what quality the supplier guarantees at the delivery point. For purchased deinked pulp, request cleanliness and relevant test data. For an on-site recycling route, define incoming recovered-paper grades and the intended finished tissue before assessing process suitability. “Recycled” alone is not a sufficient quality specification.
Straw and Other Agricultural Fibers
Straw and bagasse may enter a project’s alternative-fiber assessment where suitable pulp supply and technical support exist. These should be treated as separate development options. ANDRITZ’s wheat-straw project for Essity involved a dedicated pulp-processing system and extensive trials before tissue production. That example demonstrates a specific engineered route, rather than proving that agricultural residues can be fed directly into any tissue line. ANDRITZ: Wheat-straw processing for tissue production.
Evaluate the Quality Trade-offs Together
Pulp selection and pulp treatment must be considered together. Refining changes fiber behavior and develops properties such as strength, while also influencing production stability. It should have a defined objective for the selected furnish. Valmet: Refining and fiber development.
More strength does not automatically mean a better tissue. In the market-pulp study, increasing strength through refining was accompanied by a denser sheet and reductions in softness and water absorbency. This supports comparing a group of properties rather than approving a pulp on tensile results alone. BioResources: Strength, softness and absorbency trade-offs.
For a trial, agree on the paper grade and test method first. Record the furnish, treatment conditions and finished-sheet results together so that a favorable laboratory number is not mistaken for a complete production outcome.
A Practical Pulp Purchasing Checklist
When assessing a tissue paper raw material supplier, use a written data request. The following is a starting checklist; acceptance limits should be agreed for the actual product and process.
| Information to request | How to use it |
|---|---|
| Pulp grade, fiber source, mill of origin and processing route | Establish exactly what is being evaluated and purchased. |
| Technical data sheet, test methods and recent batch results | Separate typical marketing data from the values available for delivered batches. |
| Moisture or dryness and the invoicing basis | Compare offers on the same defined mass basis. |
| Available fiber, drainage and strength-development data | Plan comparable evaluation of candidate grades. |
| Brightness, color, dirt and relevant contaminant information | Match appearance and cleanliness requirements. |
| Representative sample and batch identification | Connect trial results to a traceable supply. |
| Packaging, handling and storage instructions | Plan receiving and warehouse procedures. |
| Lead time, minimum order, planned outages and change notification | Assess continuity and the response to a supply interruption. |
Ask which values are typical, guaranteed or available only on request. Retain the approved specification alongside the sample and trial record.
Compare Delivered Value and Supply Continuity
Pulp purchase price is only one part of the decision. UPM’s furnish-selection discussion highlights that fiber changes can affect quality, refining demand, converting performance and production stability. Those interactions are reasons to assess total operating results when comparing alternatives. UPM: Smarter fiber choices.
Build a comparison using delivered pulp cost, agreed mass basis, trial yield, operating observations and saleable-sheet quality. Qualify a backup grade before it is needed urgently. Where sourcing or environmental claims matter to customers, request evidence for the specific supply and claim; a fiber name by itself is not an environmental assessment.
Confirm the Furnish Before Selecting a Configuration
Prepare a short brief containing the proposed pulp grades, available samples, intended blend, target tissue properties and existing stock preparation. Bannor’s reference product information identifies prepared wood pulp and bamboo pulp; recycled, deinked and other non-wood routes require separate evaluation. Review the pulp requirements for a tissue machine to connect your raw-material brief with the configuration discussion.