Parts of last season’s 74-foot Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree were made into paper at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry on Friday.

The paper made on ESF’s paper machine will be used for a special edition children’s book that Habitat for Humanity will produce, said Raymond Appleby, manager of pilot operations at ESF. The paper will go into book covers and bookplates, Appleby said.

‘This was a very special project for us,’ he said.

Appleby said his family tries to visit the tree at Rockefeller Center every year, although they did not make the trip this year. The tree was grown in Newburgh, N.Y., near the Hudson Valley area. 

ESF has had a paper science and engineering program since the 1920s, according to an ESF press release. ESF was the first college to offer academic courses in pulp and paper in the United States and the first to have an on-campus pilot paper plant, according to the release.

The project was even more special because it benefited Habitat for Humanity, Appleby said, and there was no hesitation from ESF’s staff to help out.

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree was donated to Habitat for Humanity and milled into lumber, which will go toward a Habitat for Humanity project. A representative from Habitat for Humanity could not be reached for comment.

Appleby said plans to get the tree to turn it into paper at ESF have been in the works with Habitat for Humanity since last November. After representatives from Habitat for Humanity surveyed the ESF facilities, it was agreed the processing could happen on campus, Appleby said.

Although everyone involved enjoyed taking part in the process, Appleby said making the special paper would be a one-time event.

For about two and a half months, the parts of the tree not suitable for lumber have been cooking at the ESF plant. When ESF received scraps of the tree, they first had to be stripped of bark and the wood had to be chipped. The chips have been soaking in a pressure cooker to remove the natural glue from the wood fibers, Appleby said.

What was left after the soaking process were dark brown fibers, Appleby said. On Friday the fibers, which were unbleached, were added to a basic pulp mix, formed into sheets of paper and cut into 3-by-3 and half-foot sheets.

But the process is not yet complete, Appleby said. Soon the sheets will be cut down again to a useable size, and making the book can begin.

dkcmbrid@syr.edu

Published on April 17, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Dara: dkmcbrid@syr.edu | @daramcbride