Empty fruit bunches (EFB) is one of solid waste from crude palm oil (CPO) mill. It’s about 20-22% from fresh fruit bunches (FFB) or equal to the CPO yield. Indonesian CPO production in 2019 was 51.8 million tons; increased by 9% compared to 2018. So, about 51.8 million tons of EFB was available in 2019. EFB is a potential lignocellulosic material for pulp and paper. The utilization of EFB fibers for papermaking has been studied extensively. The use of EFB for printing and writing papers tends to cause pitch problems and poor visual appearance. The most potential use of EFB fibers is for packaging papers. EFB fiber is classified as short up to moderate fibers, so its usage must still be mixed with other fibers to improve the sheet strength. Many experiments have been done regarding the mixture of EFB fibers with other fibers such as OCC (Old Corrugated Containers) and UBC (Used Beverage Cartons) recycled fibers. Other types of paper from EFB are still being developed, including for nursery bags and active packaging papers.

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Indonesia merupakan penghasil limbah plastik terbesar kedua setelah Cina, sehingga telah menjadi isu lingkungan. Salah satu kemasan plastik yang banyak digunakan adalah kemasan untuk pembibitan terbuat dari plastik atau dikenal sebagai polybag. Guna membantu mengurangi penggunaan polybag, telah dilakukan percobaan skala laboratorium pembuatan paper bag dari pulp tandan kosong sawit (TKS) sebagai pengganti polybag. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendapatkan formula pembuatan paper bag yang dapat memenuhi persyaratan penggunaan akhirnya. Kegiatan dimulai dari penggilingan pulp TKS, dilanjutkan dengan pembuatan lembaran dengan variasi gramatur 90 g/m2 dan 125 g/m2 pada rentang pH 7-8. Dua jenis bahan kimia penguat basah yang digunakan yakni polietilen imin (PEI) dan poliamin epiklorohidrin (PAE), ditambahkan dengan variasi dosis 1,0 – 2,0 % terhadap berat kering serat. Karakteristik lembaran dievaluasi melalui uji ketahanan tarik, daya regang, daya serap energi (tensile energy absorption atau TEA), ketahanan retak, ketahanan sobek, persen rendemen kekuatan setelah mengalami pembasahan, dan porositas. Uji biodegradabilitas dilakukan untuk melihat tingkat afiliasi bahan kimia yang ditambahkan terhadap lingkungan dan rasio C/N (rasio karbon/nitrogen) untuk mengetahui kontribusinya terhadap proses pengomposan. Hasil percobaan menunjukkan bahwa lembaran memiliki rendemen ketahanan tarik di atas 10%. Gramatur berkorelasi positif terhadap sifat kekuatan, dan negatif terhadap porositas. PAE memberikan sifat kekuatan lebih tinggi dibanding PEI, namun PEI memberikan persen rendemen ketahanan tarik lebih tinggi dibanding PAE. Seluruh bahan kimia yang ditambahkan dapat didegradasi lebih dari 60% dalam kurun waktu 28 hari namun uji rasio C/N menunjukkan hasil yang belum memadai. Formula optimum diperoleh pada gramatur 125 g/m2 dengan penambahan PEI 2%. Paper Bag Based on Empty Fruit Bunches Pulp as an Alternative for Polybag Substitute in Pre-Nursery Palm Oil PlantationAbstract Indonesia is the second-largest plastic waste producer after China, so it has become an environmental issue. One of the plastic packagings which are large in consumption for nursery packaging is known as polybag. Therefore, to reduce the use of plastic bag, the laboratory scale experiment of paper bag made from oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB) as polybag substitutes has been done. This study aims to obtain a formula for paper bags that can meet the end using requirements. Laboratory scale started from beating the EFB pulp, then continued with handsheet making at grammage variation of 90 g/m2 and 125 g/m2 with a pH range of 7-8. Two types of wet strength agents were used, namely polyethyleneimine (PEI) and polyamine epichlorohydrin (PAE) which were varied from 1.0 to 2.0% (%db of fiber). Sheet properties were evaluated through tensile and bursting strength, stretch, TEA tests, tearing resistance, % yield of strength after wetting, opacity, and porosity. A biodegradability test was conducted to determine the chemical’s affiliation level to the soil and the C/N ratio to know its contribution to the composting process. The results showed that the paper bag has a tensile strength yield above 10%. Grammage is directly proportional to strength properties and inversely to porosity. PAE gave higher strength than PEI but is lower in % yield of tensile strength. All added chemicals can be degraded by more than 60% within 28 days but the C/N ratio test showed inadequate results. The optimum formula was obtained at 125 g/m2 and PEI of 2.0%.

One of the raw materials furniture common in Indonesia is rattan. Because of the availability of local rattan is very limited so that it is necessary to find alternative raw materials that can be used to substitute the rattan. Paper ropes made from spinning paper, is one of alternative that can be utilized. Paper ropes making from various spinning papers have been studied. Some types of paper were used in this experiment. The spinning papers were characterized and treated to modify its surface properties especially to increase their water resistance. Paper ropes making were done by using the twisting machine and then the physical properties of paper ropes resulted were tested. The results showed that paper surface treatment increased tensile strength, and reduced water absorption and porosity of treated papers. The use of water barrier chemicals and adhesive are effective in increasing water resistance of paper surface. Decreased water absorption and porosity are  20% - 43% and 30% - 98%, respectively. Based on this result, paper ropes is potential to become an alternative raw material for furniture.  ABSTRAKSalah satu bahan baku furnitur umum di Indonesia adalah rotan. Karena ketersediaan rotan lokal sangat terbatas sehingga diperlukan untuk mencari bahan baku alternatif yang dapat digunakan untuk menggantikan rotan. Paper ropes yang terbuat dari spinning paper, merupakan salah satu alternatif yang dapat dimanfaatkan. Pembuatan paper ropes dari berbagai jenis spinning paper telah dipelajari pada penelitian ini. Beberapa jenis kertas digunakan dalam percobaan ini. Spinning paper dikarakterisasi dan diperlakukan khusus untuk memodifikasi sifat permukaannya terutama untuk meningkatkan ketahanan airnya. Pembuatan paper ropes dilakukan dengan menggunakan mesin pemilin dan pengujian sifat fisik paper ropes telah dilakukan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa perlakuan khusus permukaan kertas meningkatkan kekuatan tarik, dan mengurangi penyerapan air dan porositas. Penggunaan bahan kimia water barrier dan adhesif cukup efektif dalam meningkatkan ketahanan air permukaan kertas.  Penurunan penyerapan air dan porositas masing-masing sebesar 20% - 43% dan 30% - 98%. Berdasarkan hasil ini, paper ropes memiliki potensi sebagai bahan bahan baku alternatif untuk furnitur.

Alkaline paper has advantages in their high shelf life (permanence) compared to paper made in acidic conditions. The conversion from acidic papermaking process to alkaline process is a major change experienced by the paper industry. In alkaline papermaking, one of the internal sizing agent used is Alkylketene Dimer (AKD). This additive is used to improve the resistance of paper to liquid penetration. Changes to the use of sizing agents are also followed by other changes; one of them is the change in the retention aids used. The use of Cationic Polyacrylamide (C-PAM) as retention aid on alkaline papermaking which is sized by AKD has been investigated. In this study, 100% Leaf Bleached Kraft Pulp (LBKP) as a fiber source was refined in a laboratory beater up to 400 mLCSF of freeness and then mixed with paper additives i.e. 0.1% AKD as sizing agent, 15% calcium carbonate as filler and 1% cationic starch as dry strength agent. The addition of C-PAM was varied in the range of 0%-0.4% based on dry weight of fiber. After being mixed thoroughly, the handsheets of 60 g/m2 grammage were made and then tested for tensile strength and water absorption (Cobb-60). The addition of 0.1% C-PAM resulted paper with good tensile strength and improved the resistance to liquid penetration.