Banana Paper

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE In a study, “Papers and Boards from Banana Stem Waste” in which they used banana stem waste in producing paper and board because banana is a very good source of cellulose. Banana stem waste, thrown away by farmers after harvesting of fruits, was procured as raw material. It was chopped by 3-4” size usually at a rate of about 100 kg material per day. The material was soaked in 1-2% NaOH for appropriate period. The alkali loosens the ligno-cellulosic bonds, thereby softening the material. Then it was washed with water. The washed material was then subjected to beating in a Hollander beater, a machine developed by the Dutch in 1680 to produce paper pulp from cellulose containing plant fibers. A period of three to four hours of beating was required for getting a good quality of pulp. It was observed that depending upon the quality of boards to be produced, appropriate amount of fillers, loading material or chemicals were used during wet beating. For production of hard boards, suitable quantity of resins like urea formaldehyde and phenol formaldehyde are added in the beater itself while maintaining pH. The wet boards are then allowed to dry under direct sun on bamboo frames specially made for this purpose. Handmade paper from rice straw was a product developed by the Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI), a line agency of the DOST. In 1986, the technology was fully developed and the product was commercialized locally. The major material input used for the production of handmade paper was rice straw, an agricultural waste which was available in abundance locally. The other inputs which were also available in the domestic market were sodium hydroxide, sodium or calcium hypochlorite and paper additives such as rosin size, starch and alum (aluminum sulfate or tawas). Rosin size was used to prevent liquid penetration and make paper smooth, alum to enhance cohesion of the fibers and starch to bind fibers