Fiber crop

Fiber crops are generally harvestable after a single growing season, as distinct from trees, which are typically grown for many years before being harvested for such materials as wood pulp fiber or lacebark.

Bast fibers are harvested through retting which is where microbes are utilized to remove soft tissues from the plant and only the useful fibrous material remains.

Hard fibers are harvested mainly through decortication which is where the non-fibrous tissues are removed by hand or machine.

[4] A process for removing printing inks from recycled paper was invented by German jurist Justus Claproth in 1774.

It was not until the introduction of wood pulp in 1843 that paper production was not dependent on recycled materials from ragpickers.