Applicability of non-wood fibers from empty fruit bunch and palm frond for packaging paper

EFB (Empty fruit bunch) and palm frond are abundant materials generated from palm oil industry in Indonesia or Malaysia. In view of papermaking, EFB and palm frond can be considered as raw materials for high value-added packaging paper although they are incinerated as useless trash now. Therefore, properties of pulps obtained from EFB and palm frond by kraft pulping were analyzed in order to evaluate usability of the pulps. Fiber length and width of EFB pulp were lower than that of KOCC. Whereas fiber characteristics of palm frond pulp were similar to that of KOCC. Yield of EFB and palm frond were 34.72% and 27.66%. However, yield of palm frond pulp was enhanced by pretreatment with hot water since soluble carbohydrate were dissolved. Apparent density and air resistance of handsheets made of EFB or palm frond were better than that of KOCC. In addition, tensile strength, tensile strain, and tensile energy absorption of handsheets made of EFB or palm were significantly good. Unfortunately, all properties of fibers and handsheets decreased by drying EFB pulp due to hornification. As a consequence, this study showed that never-dried EFB or palm frond pulp might be appled to papermaking process for packaging paper.