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This article highlights a technique developed by scientists at the Yokohama City Sewage Bureau in Japan in June 1991, which turns sewage into paper. The technique entails heating the sewage to 1,450 degrees Fahrenheit and spinning it. Thus far, the weak, speckled paper has been used to make business cards for the bureau's officials. But, because the average Yokohaman produces enough sewage to make four sheets of paper each day, city officials are examining other potential uses for this unlikely resource.

Focuses on municipal solid wastes from paper. Efforts to reduce global consumption of paper; Effects of excessive paper use on the world's forests; Advantages of recycling used papers.

Highlights the application of genetic engineering in altering a key gene in aspen trees in the United States. Percentage of lignin reduction achieved by researchers at Michigan Technological University; Use of lignin; Effect of genetic engineering to the height of trees.

Reports that paper made from kenaf is slowly gaining prominence as an alternative to paper made from trees from the disappearing northern forests. Kenaf is a fast-growing tropical plant in the hibiscus family; Details.

This article reports on a paper bicycle frame designed by Yoshifumi Kato of the Japan Bicycle Technical Center in Inuyama that is both lightweight and recyclable. The frame, which is made from handmade paper fibers and epoxy with a thin plastic coating, weighs only 1,300 grams. Standard aluminum or carbon-fiber frames can weigh up to 1,800 grams and even the lightest racing bikes weigh 1,200. Furthermore, a frame is badly mangled in an accident can be dropped off at a recycling center instead of at the dump.