mechanical pulp

advantages

• provides 90% yield as it uses the whole log, except for the bark
• mechanical pulp mills are relatively cheap in comparison to other types of mills
• well suited for bulk grades of paper. e.g newspaper and packaging
• can be bleached to provide higher value paper

mechanical pulp

disadvantages

• lower strength characterisitics than softwood chemical pulps
• paper can go yellow when exposed to light due to containing a big amount of 'lignin'

chemical pulp

advantages

• higher quality wood pulp produced, with longer so therefore stronger fibres with fewer impurities
• produces chlorine free disposable products
• waste lignin can be burnt as fuel, often supplying power to the national grib or steam to local heating plants

chemical pulp

disadvantages

• lower yield than mechanical methods due to the lignin being completely disolved and spearated from the fibres
• no chemical pulp is produced in the UK

waste pulp

advantages

• makes use of recycled paper
• well suited for bulk grades of paper e.g newspaper and packaging

waste pulp

disadvantages

• cannot be recycled indefinately ue to pulp losing its quality- new pulp needs to be added
• does not save any energy in processing than in any other methods
• requires considerable processing and addititives to produce good quality paper