2025/11/13 by Desissa Yadeta, Natea Abdo, Eskindir Solomon +1
#Brown Paper #Cellulose Pulp #Enset Fiber #Enset Paper #Fiber Cooking #White Paper
paper · doi:10.20372/star.v13.i4.04
Pulp is a commodity originating from cellulosic fiber and used for papermaking. The source of cellulose is wood (like Eucalyptus.) and non-wood like Enset. Enset is a local plant that is a staple food for millions of people in Ethiopia. At the national level, we are importing pulp and paper with an estimated value of 130,000,000 USD on average. To minimize the import burden, we have implemented research out for pulp and paper making from Enset fiber at a commercial scale by using the soda method. The leftovers after food processing and the growth stage were collected and utilized by the industries locally. From Enset fiber, both brown and white paper have been made and characterized for their quality at a 30% virgin pulp and 70% recovered pulp mixture. Tensile, burst, and tear strength were selected and tested. According to the result, commercial paper was suited standard and a promising product to utilize Enset fiber as pulp instead of cutting and deforesting trees and bamboo for pulping.