Two approaches were selected for the study, both of which were based on an initial hot water treatment: the “chemical” where bleached pulp is produced for printing and writing papers by hot water treatment and the following alkaline peroxide bleaching (Paper II–IV) and the “mechanical” where the unbleached material from the hot water treatment stage is mechanically refined (Paper II, V) to produce fibres for packaging grade papers. In the future, the straw fibre could be considered as a raw material for biocomposites. In both approaches, the idea is that the lower quality material produced, such as dissolved solids or.
