Pulpwood

Pulpwood can be defined as timber that is ground and processed into a fibrous pulp. It is a versatile natural resource commonly used for paper-making but also made into low-grade wood and used for chips, energy, pellets, and engineered products.^[1]

Pulpwood can be derived from most types of trees. Categorizing trees into hardwood and softwood is the easiest way to characterize types of paper produced from pulpwood.^[1]

Hardwoods are raw material that are preferred for pulp used in printing papers. It has small dimensions in its fibres, which can be useful for small-scale uniformity, opacity, and surface smoothness, all important for printing paper.^[2]

Softwoods are the preferred raw material for strong papers, due to the length and slimness of the fibres. Low-density softwoods, such as firs with thin-walled fibres are preferred for papers with high demands for bonding-related strength characteristics. Some of these characteristics include tensile, burst, and surface strength.^[2]

Trees raised specifically for pulp production account for 15% of world pulp production, while old growth forests account for 9% and second/third plus generation forests account for the balance.^[3]