The bonding of polymers was examined using analogues of commercial adhesive which were selected so that they could be readily detected by surface microanalytical techniques including scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectrometry. When reagents were added to the pulp prior to handsheet preparation, epoxides but not isocyanates, were found to adhere to cellulose and wood fibers by polymerizing with themselves. That is, epoxides polymerized to form gels, which then adhered to the fibers. To test this hypothesis, handsheets were treated subsequently with solutions of pre-formed polymers. In the case of both polyvinylchloride and cellulose acetate, the tensile breaking length and burst index of treated handsheets increased significantly compared with the controls. No surface analytical, or bulk property data was found in this study to demonstrate covalent bonding of adhesives to cellulose or wood fibers. This means that adhesives should be readily extracted from recycled paper with appropriate organic solvents.(1).