The Age of Reason was a time when much of humankind (within Western Europe, anyway) was taught to practice forms of critical thinking that otherwise represented acts of heresy. In time, logic prevailed over superstition, and humanity came to see itself as part of a broader ecosystem, guided by the laws of nature. In some measure, I like to think we are undergoing a redux of that era, this time guided by a potent blend of technological innovation and moral ambition. Let us call it the Age of Repurpose.

Across markets and industries, builders and manufacturers have achieved some remarkable things in recent years, taking one product waste stream or another and redirecting it into something new. Discarded timber is becoming engineered lumber, chemically inert industrial waste is being activated with CO2 to produce low-carbon cement replacement, softwood residuals are becoming wood-fiber insulation products, structural steel from demolished buildings is receiving new life as primary components in new ones, and the list goes on. Another pioneering innovation comes from the Swedish startup PaperShell, which produces engineered wood products using virgin or recycled kraft paper. The company’s goal is a simple one: to convert paper into wood. Its manufacturing process and the environmental co-benefits it produces are anything but simple, however.

A new building material

Most kraft paper and paperboard doesn’t have much of a life. The standard kraft process yields a product that is the embodiment of the take-make-waste economy. While paper and cardboard happen to be among the most recycled materials on the planet, they also make up the largest percentage (23.05%) of municipal solid waste by category, according to the most recent EPA figures. What is made invariably gets used for packaging and shipping. Once it reaches its destination, well, you probably know the rest. It gets…