Handmade Paper Fabrication Using Dried Pineapple (Ananas comosus) Leaves and Old Corrugated Carton

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Global surveys showed that about 13 million hectares of trees disappear every year. These trees were cut down and widely used by companies to produce papers that cause the occurrence of ecological imbalances which affect every person's life in return. inthis study, the researchers focused on fabricating paper using the abundance of waste materials in our environment such as pineapple (Ananas comosus) leaves and old corrugated cartons which largely contribute in preserving forests world-wide and promote a cheap and easy way to produce a good-quality paper.

METHODS

Pulping Process is the method used in this experiment. It is used to get the pulp needed in making paper which was cooked for about two to three hours using the chemical, sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Cleansing and Disintegrating Process using Naginata were also used before the paper produced underwent the drying process. The number of papers produced and some mechanical properties (tearing index, bursting and tensile strength) were tested and statistically analyzed using Multiple Analysis of Variance (MANOVA).

RESULTS

Generally, the first setup yielded 176.96 g/m2 in terms of basis weight. When it comes to physical and other properties, the second setup had 0.672 mm thick which was the thickest among all the setups. The third setup yielded the highest tensile index with 16.26 Ng/m. It showed that it had the highest strength to induce failure or rupture to a paper fabricated. On the other hand, the second setup yielded the highest tearing index with 7.98 Mn m/g. It signified that it had the highest resistance to tearing force which was also an important factor and property that a paper should have. Lastly, the first setup had the highest burst index with 2.21 kPam /g. It explained that it had the highest pressure at which a paper will burst. Basically, it depends on the tensile strength of a material used. These data were written on the table.

DISCUSSIONS

The results demonstrate that the experiment was efficient for all those who use and/or manufacture paper world-wide. It was significant to utilize pineapple leaves and old corrugated cartons as materials in fabricating paper to help preserve trees and recycle wastes. Produced paper show the need for more improvement. Suggestions include to manipulating ratios of materials to be used and including binders for better and compacted product.