Abstract: A method of making an absorbent granulate of paper, with or without additives, includes mechanically comminuting paper into irregular and/or strip-shaped fragments, crumpling and interlacing the fragments with attendant development of internal spaces (cavities) in the interlaced and crumpled fragments, rough pressing the interlaced and crumpled fragments into prepressed formations (e.g., into tubes having a diameter of up to or even in excess of 10 mm), and converting the prepresssed formations into particles, particularly into granules or pellets. The crumpling and interlacing step can include agitating the fragments in one or more streams of a gaseous fluid and/or kneading the fragments.