ISSN 2277-0852; Volume 2, Issue 3, pp. 71-82; March 2013 Online International Journal of Arts and Humanities ©2013 Online Research Journals Full Length Research Available Online at http://www.onlineresearchjournals.org/IJAH Hand Papermaking with Waste Fabrics and Paper Mulberry Fibre *Nana Afia Opoku-Asare and Rita Yeboah Department of Art Education, College of Art and Social Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. Downloaded 28 November, 2012 Accepted 9 March, 2013 In Ghana, art paper is imported, expensive and often inaccessible to students in some communities for lack of suppliers or funding. High costs prevent many Visual Arts teachers from assigning enough practice exercises that could help their students to master a variety of art mediums. The challenge therefore was to explore the possibility of recycling waste fabrics into reasonably good quality paper that interested Visual Arts teachers and students could use for demonstration and skills development lessons. The methodology involved pulping fabric and mulberry fibre, moulding, couching and drying them into sheets of different colours and texture. Tests of suitability involved drawing and painting on samples of the different sheets with colour pencil, poster and water colour, pastel, oil and acrylic paints. Although the papers reacted differently to the various mediums, the results show that useful art paper could be improvised for self-expression and skills development in the Visual Arts. Key words: Recycling, waste fabrics, mulberry fibre, paper, art education, Ghana. INTRODUCTION Recycling implies taking materials from products that one has finished using and trying to make new products out of them. It involves processing used materials into products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials [1]. Textile recycling is one of the oldest forms of recycling, having started in 1813 when Benjamin Law of West Riding area of Yorkshire in UK pioneered the process of “pulling”, a process which involved breaking down woollen textiles into their constituent fibres so that they could be re-spun into fresh thread. While the textile industry has a long history of being careful with its resources, a large proportion of unnecessary waste is still produced each year, much of which is either incinerated or disposed of in landfills. Different types of waste, each with its own environmental impacts, have come into existence with the advent of the industrial revolution, giving rise to the new definition of waste “as any product or substance that has no further use or value for the person or organisation that owns it, and which is, or will be, discarded” [2]. *Corresponding Author's E-mail: afia_asare@yahoo.co.uk ; naopoku-asare.art@knust.edu.gh ; Tel.: +233-208-168-598. Key reasons that necessitate recycling waste are: 1) Waste disposal in landfills can harm the environment and human health; the requirement of landfill space is reduced when waste is recycled; and, the cost for landfill disposal, which is continuously increasing is also reduced when waste is recycled. 2) Textile waste in landfill contributes to the formation of leachate, the liquid that is produced from the decomposition of waste within the landfill as it decomposes, which has the potential to contaminate ground water. 3) Incinerating textile waste in large quantities emits organic substances such as acidic gases and dust particles, which are all harmful to humans and animals alike, into the environment [3]. Textile Waste Textile waste consists of pre-consumer and post- consumer waste; pre-consumer waste includes all the waste manufacturers generate during the processing of fibres into fabrics and all floor cuttings that garment manufacturers generate whereas post-consumer textile waste consists of all types of garments or household textiles that consumers no longer need or use and are