North Korea, grappling with widespread deforestation and the resulting desertification of its mountains, has announced a novel solution: producing paper from fallen leaves instead of wood.
On Tuesday, North Korea’s foreign propaganda outlet Naenara reported that the country’s State Academy of Sciences’ Paper Engineering Research Institute has recently developed technology to manufacture paper using fallen leaves.
The outlet claimed that, traditionally, 17 trees are needed to produce one ton of paper; however, their new technology can create the same amount using just 20,000 to 30,000 tons of fallen leaves.
According to the report, researchers at the institute initiated a project several years ago to utilize fallen leaves from broadleaf trees widely cultivated in North Korea, including maple, ginkgo, zelkova, chestnut, and oak trees, which are easily harvested.
The researchers reportedly analyzed the biological, physical, and chemical properties of fallen leaves from various species, developing techniques to use them as raw materials for paper production. They successfully produced pulp from fallen leaves, discovering its potential for creating packaging materials and seedling containers.
The outlet also reported that researchers have developed a method to blend fallen leaf pulp with recycled paper pulp at a paper mill in Kimhwa County, Gangwon Province, to produce packaging materials for walls and floors, as well as two-ply paper.
The paper containers produced using this technology are said to cost about half as much as plastic containers. The outlet emphasized that these biodegradable paper containers used for growing seedlings are environmentally friendly and can improve the rooting rate of seedlings.
The research institute is reportedly planning to establish a production line at a new paper mill to manufacture fallen leaf pulp and two-ply paper, aiming to reduce production costs for wall and floor materials significantly.
Some observers view North Korea’s claims about fallen leaf paper technology with skepticism, likening it to exaggerated propaganda such as past assertions that Kim Il Sung used pine cone grenades during the anti-Japanese armed struggle.
North Korea has long suffered from widespread deforestation, mainly due to the high demand for wood, which is exacerbated by fuel shortages. This latest claim about fallen leaf paper technology appears to be an attempt to address the need to reduce wood consumption.
Meanwhile, according to the South Korean Ministry of Unification’s North Korea Information Portal, North Korean paper is known to have a high proportion of non-wood raw materials, resulting in poor quality. It is reported that North Korea imports significant quantities of paper from countries like China annually.