Abstract: The current economic struggles of paper producers are widely reported. Part of the story is that North American and Western Europe paper demand is flat to declining. This is forcing consolidation, capacity reduction and asset sales, including timberlands. Meanwhile, China, India, Russia and Eastern Europe are investing in papermaking capacity and increasing their domestic consumption of paper. Overlaid on this shift is climate change, biomass as fossil fuel replacement, higher food cost and concern for food supply, preservation of forests and biodiversity, fragmentation of forestlands, and resistance to genetically modified plants. This presentation will to quantify the impact of the trends and suggest changes that may be necessary to provide sufficient fiber.
Biographical Sketch: Al Button holds B.S. (1967) and M.S. (1972) degrees from Penn State in Wood Science and Technology. He earned an M.S. (1975) and Ph.D. (1979) from The Institute of Paper Chemistry in Paper and Fiber Physics.
His paper industry employment history includes developing Paper Resins for Borden Chemical, teaching as an Instructor in Wood Science and Technology at Stephen F. Austin State University, being the Section Leader in Papermaking Materials R&D and, later, the Director of Technical Planning for Champion International Corp. He was part of James River and Fort James Neenah Technical Center’s Fiber R&D effort as a Research Associate, Head of the Fiber Lab and Research Leader. Al is President of Buttonwood Consulting, LLC, which he founded in Appleton, Wisconsin in 2000. Since 2004 he has also been Vice President and Treasurer of WOMP, LLC, a publishing and seminar business formed with Dave Hillman.
Al has presented and authored more than a dozen papers, tutorials and seminars at TAPPI and other technical conferences. He is the co-author of “The World of Market Pulp” a book about market pulp and the characteristics of the pulps available in the world.
He is a member of TAPPI (since 1970), Lakes States Section, PAPTAC and AAAS. He serves as Chairman of Lake States TAPPI and Vice Chairman of the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame.
