The flowchart illustrates the process by which paper is produced and recycled. Overall, this circular process consists of 10 steps, starting from tree felling and culminating with repulping of used newspapers. The process consists of two main stages: paper production from raw wood and the recycling of newspapers. The cycle begins with wood processing and ends with used paper being repurposed into new sheets. We can see that most steps in the process require little human labor, but rely on specialized machines.
In the first stage, trees are cut down and transported to a factory, where their bark is removed in a rotating drum. The de-barked logs are then fed into a chipper, breaking them down into small wood chippings. These are processed in a refiner to extract pulp, which is then pressed on a tray to remove extra water. The pressed pulp is then rolled into thin sheets to create paper.
The second stage involves recycling used newspapers. Once printed, newspapers are collected and undergo a cleaning process to remove ink and impurities. The cleaned paper is then mixed with water and repulped, forming raw pulp that can be re-used to manufacture new paper sheets, completing the cyc
le.