Paper from Algae

Red algae are used in the paper and pulp manufacture. Gelidialian Red Algae that contain rhizoidal filaments, except the family Gelidiellaceae can be processed to make bleached pulps, which can be used as raw materials for paper making. Red algae consist of rhizoidal filaments, cortical cells usually reddish in colour, and medullary cells filled with mucilanaginous carbohydrates. Red algae pulp of high brightness can be produced by extracting mucilaginous carbohydrates after heating the algae in an aqueous medium and subsequently treating the endofibres (rhizoidal filaments, rhizine, internal filaments and hypa) that remain with bleaching chemicals.

Strains Used:

• Gelidium amansii
• Gelidium corneum

Companies Involved:

• Pegasus Research Inc, US – Owns a patented process for the production of pulp and paper made from Red Algae (l. Gracilaria and l. Gelidium elegans)
• Favini, Italy – Manufactures paper from Seaweed called as “Shiro Alga Carta”

Production Process of Shiro Alga Carta

Algae was collected from the lagoon, dried and finely ground into "flour". The flour was combined with FSC fibres to make a high quality environmentally friendly speckled paper where the speckles are the milled algae.

Interestingly, the paper becomes whiter as it ages due to the chlorophyll in the algae, in direct contrast to the majority of wood-based papers where exposure of lignin to air and sunlight turns paper yellow.

The 50,000 tonnes of algae collected each year is the papermaking equivalent to 30,000 tonnes of trees.