Story of Paper

There's no denying, paper has become an essential part of our lives. We use it for writing, wrapping, and other things that we do every day. But, the question is, 'how far do we know and understand paper?' Because,  unknowingly to many, it has gone through a series of seemingly endless innovations up to this day. 

It is well documented (no pun intended) that the ancient Egyptians have used some kind of paper since 3700 BC. In fact, our word 'paper' comes from the Egyptian 'papyrus,' as this early civilization made sheets by pressing together stems of the cyperus papyrus plant.

They were meant for writing, as previously people used to write on clay tablets. And this was a significant invention. However, the earliest form of paper as we know it, made up of a mesh of randomly arranged plant fibers, was invented between 200 B.C. and 220 A.D. in China during the Han Dynasty. 

It then led to the Chinese becoming the first people who printed paper money, a form of cash that we still use to this date. A world-changing innovation, indeed. Other than that, as it spread across the globe, paper was also used to wrap food and items like tea, although it had been more importantly used for writing, as it was initially intended. 

Today, the paper is used for all types of printed material and other applications. The kind of sheet varies according to the end-use and lifetime of the product. Banknotes, for example, must be strong and durable. At the same time, we use the more fragile tissue paper for its absorbency. And oh, add layers of other harder materials, and we get laminated packaging. 

The list goes one when we talk about the everyday use of paper. But more than that, it has also been used for a thing that makes humans human: culture. It becomes a medium that inspires us to create meaningful work of art and creativity. It's not only a surface for paintings and calligraphy-like in our earlier days. Now paper itself has also been used as the primary material of art (as we will talk about in our future article, so stay tuned, wink).

Innovation is just something that we, humans, do. And it's not likely going to stop anytime soon. It is especially true for paper, which has a feature that we all strive to achieve these days for the sake of our future, i.e., eco-friendliness. And that's what we are trying to answer here at APP.

Starting with a humble beginning as a caustic soda maker in 1972, we continue to innovate and now use all the sophisticated technology to create outstanding products and preserve the environment. Yes, we now create fully biodegradable and compostable food packaging and use satellites to protect the forests! How cool is that?

And we will continue to do so, as everything that we do today is for the benefits of tomorrow. Check out this all-new product page to learn more about our innovative products and head to our Instagram to get the day to day updates about what we're up to. Together, we're #GrowingOurTomorrow.