Papers Produced From 'Leaves' Not 'Trees': A New Outlook!

The concept behind the Ukrainian firm Releaf Paper is to produce paper using dead leaves instead of living plants. The inventor, Valentyn Frechka, utilized his love of biochemistry while still in school to develop novel processes for producing cellulose, the main component of paper. He learned that it was feasible to extract fiber from leaves following an unsuccessful trial with straw and grass. Due to the conflict in Ukraine, he moved to Paris after developing a functional prototype, where he and his business partner Alexandre Sobolenko established Releaf Paper. A Common Question: Is paper made from leaves better for the environment? (Source: Google Images)   Releaf turns 2.3 tons of dead leaves into one tonne of cellulose by combining mechanical and chemical processes. Typically, it would take 17 trees to yield the same quantity. Rather than burning the dead leaves that they have gathered from their streets, as many towns do, cities all around Europe donate them to Releaf. “We are working only with the leaves that we are getting from the cities because we cannot use the leaves from the forest. It's not easy to collect them in the forest, and there is no need because there's an ecosystem. In a city, it’s a green waste that should be collected. Really, it's a good solution because we are keeping the balance - we get fibre for making paper and return lignin as a semi-fertilizer for the cities to fertilize the gardens or the trees. So it's like a win-win model,” explains Frechka.  (Source: Google Images)  In Releaf's procedure, the leaves are stripped of any solid substances, dried, and then formed into pellets. This enables them to maintain a continuous production cycle and retain the raw material throughout the year. The pellets are transformed into a unique fiber that serves as the foundation for the paper. Paper is created by pressing and rolling the resultant pulp. Yes, indeed its a fascinating process to carry out!  What is the environmental impact of paper production? According to Releaf Paper's estimations, their process uses 15 times less water and produces 78 percent less CO2 than traditional production. Releaf Paper claims that while regular paper takes 270 days or longer to disintegrate in the soil, leaf-based paper does so in 30 days. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) estimates that the paper industry utilizes 33–40 percent of all industrial wood sold worldwide and accounts for 13–15 percent of total wood consumption. A Point To Always Remember Deep Down ~  Since trees produce oxygen, which is necessary for almost every creature on Earth to exist and survive, it is vital to our eco-system and one of our most valuable natural resources. Thus, when we contribute to or cause deforestation, we are putting not just our own lives in jeopardy but also the planet's. Given the significance of trees to both human life and the health of the world as a whole, we have created a variety of catchphrases to encourage reforestation, oppose deforestation, and raise public awareness of these issues. ''Trees are as close to immortality as the rest of us ever come. Lets save them!" ― Karen Joy Fowler