Stationery and paper — what they are made of
10 stationery and paper objects, broken down.
| Object | Made of |
|---|---|
| Pencil | Graphite mixed with clay and fired, glued inside two grooved halves of softwood. No lead, ever. |
| Paper | Cellulose fibres from wood pulp, plus up to a third mineral filler, sizing and brightener. |
| Ballpoint pen | A tungsten carbide ball a millimetre across, rolling in a brass socket, fed by thick oil-based ink. |
| Glitter | Aluminium-coated polyester film, colour-coated and chopped into fragments — by definition a microplastic. |
| Crayon | Paraffin wax with pigment stirred in, poured hot into a mould and cooled. Almost nothing else. |
| Cardboard | Two flat kraft paper liners glued either side of a fluted paper medium — the flutes do all the work. |
| Eraser | Either natural rubber with fine abrasive and oil, or plasticised PVC — two different ways of lifting graphite. |
| Blackboard chalk | Mostly calcium sulfate — plaster of Paris — rather than the calcium carbonate the name suggests. |
| Playing card | Two sheets of paper laminated around a black glue core, then coated in plastic — or solid PVC. |
| Postage stamp | Coated paper with phosphor bands, printed in security inks, on either water-activated gum or a self-adhesive. |
- Pencil Graphite mixed with clay and fired, glued inside two grooved halves of softwood. No lead, ever.
- Paper Cellulose fibres from wood pulp, plus up to a third mineral filler, sizing and brightener.
- Ballpoint pen A tungsten carbide ball a millimetre across, rolling in a brass socket, fed by thick oil-based ink.
- Glitter Aluminium-coated polyester film, colour-coated and chopped into fragments — by definition a microplastic.
- Crayon Paraffin wax with pigment stirred in, poured hot into a mould and cooled. Almost nothing else.
- Cardboard Two flat kraft paper liners glued either side of a fluted paper medium — the flutes do all the work.
- Eraser Either natural rubber with fine abrasive and oil, or plasticised PVC — two different ways of lifting graphite.
- Blackboard chalk Mostly calcium sulfate — plaster of Paris — rather than the calcium carbonate the name suggests.
- Playing card Two sheets of paper laminated around a black glue core, then coated in plastic — or solid PVC.
- Postage stamp Coated paper with phosphor bands, printed in security inks, on either water-activated gum or a self-adhesive.