Biochar Paper – elevating biochar from novelty to ubiquity

Biochar has a wide variety of beneficial properties that can displace synthetic and expensive biodegradable products currently used today. An increasing number of biochar based products were recently designed to be eventually applied to soil, but which will enjoy a useful life above the soil first. Two of the qualities that set biochar apart from many other materials are its versatility and its numerous cascading benefits. When products made with biochar end up in the soil, whether in a garden or a landfill, they can provide long term benefits to soil quality and fertility. Non-soil uses of biochar will also provide several climate friendly solutions and have the advantage of continuing to sequester carbon when cast off to the soil after use.

Our most recent project could potentially transform biochar from being a novelty material to one that is ubiquitous in the consumer environment, preventing massive amounts of carbon from returning to the atmosphere. Allow us to introduce you to chardboard, a blend of biochar and paper pulp created with the assistance of a paper designer from the Genesee Center for the Arts based in Rochester, NY.

Paper and packaging materials generally contain a mix of fiber and filler material. Fibrous material acts as the binding agent while fillers have traditionally been added to lower production costs. Certain fillers can also help maximize bulk, printability, stability, drying rates and various other qualities. The end use for the paper product determines which filler properties are most important, but characteristics such as particle size and shape, surface area and color are important considerations. We investigated the possibility of using biochar as a filler to create a sustainable packaging material that could be made into a wide variety of products.

Please read the complete article in the Biochar Journal.