The Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada (PAPTAC) was founded in 1915 and has 3000 members. It is an independent, not-for-profit association. PAPTAC has the following objectives:

• enabling the exchange of knowledge and expertise among members;
• improving the skill levels and effectiveness of existing and future employees through extensive training and education;
• providing technical and practical information on pulp and paper manufacture and utilisation;
• furthering the application of the sciences in the pulp and paper industry;
• encouraging and assisting technical innovation; and
• promoting effective stewardship of natural resources.

PAPTAC has technical communities on alkaline pulping, bleaching, energy cost saving, energy and maintenance, environment, IT, non-wood fibres, mechanical pulping, paper machine technology, paperboard packaging, process control, recycling, research, standard methods and steam and steam power (PAPTAC, 2011a). The environmental community ensures the cooperation of PAPTAC with the Forest Products Association of Canada on environmental issues. It also has the mandate of forming sub-committees to study and report on specific environmental problems (PAPTAC, 2011b). The recycling community aims to provide a platform for the discussion and development of aspects of paper recycling from the raw material to the final product. The community also encourages basic and applied research in the area of paper recycling (PAPTAC, 2011c).

PAPTAC publishes several journals including the Journal of Science and Technology for Forest Products and Processes (JFOR) and the Journal of Pulp and Paper Science (JPPS), technical papers, standard testing methods and engineering data sheets (PAPTAC, 2011d). JFOR publishes peer-reviewed articles which cover several areas spanning the pulp and paper industry such as pulping, bleaching and papermaking basics, process and technologies, energy and chemical recovery fundamentals, recycled fibre and recycling technologies, environmental concerns and their mitigation and harvesting of forest and other biomass species (PAPTAC, 2011e). PAPTAC publishes technical papers intending to disseminate and share the advances made in processes and technologies in the pulp and paper industry among its members (PAPTAC, 2011f). Engineering data sheets provide up-to-date information about the designs and processes associated with the pulp and paper industry (PAPTAC, 2011g). PAPTAC’s standard testing methods are procedures to measure the characteristics of pulp and paper products and of various materials used in manufacturing these products (PAPTAC, 2011h).