DEVELOPMENT OF PULP AND PAPER FROM PANDANUS LEAVES, NIPA PALM FRUIT HUSK, AND BANANA PSEUDO STEMS

In Thailand, there are greater numbers of non-wood plant residues derived from the beverage and food industries. The pandanus leaves, Nipa palm fruit husk, and banana pseudo stem are used as raw materials and the residues of these plants have not been used. Therefore, this study aims to study the chemical properties of the fibers and bring the fiber to develop pulp paper and food containers. The result showed that the banana pseudo stem exhibited the highest cellulose (41.35%) followed by nipa palm fruit husk (38.62%) and pandanus leaves (33.99%). The nipa palm fruit husk possesses the highest lignin component (29.42%) followed by pandanus leaves (13.16%) and banana pseudo stem (10.25%) respectively. The pulp and paper were made using a soda anthraquinone cooking process with NaOH at 16% and anthraquinone at 0.2 % of dried weight. The paper made from banana pseudo stem exhibited the highest properties with tensile strength at 2.40 mN and 615 kNm of tearing strength. Paper made from nipa palm fruit husk exhibited the lowest tensile (0.37 mN) and tearing strength (353 kNm). The fiber was mixed at the rate 1: 1, and it was found that the papers mixed with banana pseudo stem showed better paper properties. The mixed pandanus leaves and banana pseudo stem fiber exhibited the highest tearing and tensile strength with 711 kNm and 2.65 mN respectively. However, blending banana pseudo stem fiber with pandanus leaves fiber or Nipa palm fruit husk fiber could improve paper strength. The food containers made from the fibers that were mixed with banana pseudo stem exhibited better quality when compared to the unblended fibers. The result revealed that blending plant residues could be the alternative method for pulp and paper making.