Particular Attempts in Indonesian Pulp and Paper Processing Endeavors Toward The Sustainable Use of Resources and Alleviating Environmental Concerns

摘要

Pulp is the basic material for paper, paperboard, and other pulp-derived items (e.g. fiberboard, MDF, and cellulose derivatives). Almost all pulp and paper factories in Indonesia consume wood raw materials. Only a few use other ligno-cellulosic fiber sources (e.g. bamboo, agricultural residues, and waste paper). The wood stuffs in this regard according to government regulation must come from production-type forest; and unfortunately its area tends to become less and less available. One day, the Indonesian production forest might no longer provide adequate wood supply for pulp/paper factories to cope with the steady mounting demand of the corresponding stuffs by the nation/community. It is feared that this situation can bring about an illegal wood-logging and hence uncontrolled deforestation, thereby creating environmental concerns. Inherent with such issues, particular attempts on processing of pulp/paper products is essential to ensure a sustainable use of their conventional resources (wood stuffs in particular). This among others can include promoting the use of alternative woody sources which are abundantly potential, e.g. woody residues from logging operation, recycling waste paper (e.g. old newsprint), fast-growing wood species, and estate waste (e.g. empty oil-palm bunches). Besides, the selection of pulp/paper-processing types should be such that not only are satisfactory qualities of the processed products ensured, but also their environmental impacts are secured. Particular laboratory-scale investigations in this regard deals with the bio-delignification on woody wastes generated from logging followed by chemi-thermo-mechanical pulping for pulp/paper manufacture, the de-inking and re-pulping of old news paper into paper pulp, processing of fast-growing tropical eucalyptus wood species using soda-anthraquinone-kraft pulping, and possible utili/ation of empty oil-palm bunches (EPOB) into medium density fiberboard by pre-softening them in atmospheric hot alkali solution followed by their soaking in aqueous alkali solution at particular concentrations at room temperature. Such pulp/paper endeavors in all revealed some encouraging results in the matters of qualities/properties as well as safety of environmental impacts. About the resulting pulps from logging wastes, old newspaper, and fast-growing wood species, to improve their qualities, they can be mixed with pulp furnishes derived from conventional wood stuffs (e.g. short-fibered hardwood or long-fibered softwood). Meanwhile, the qualities of the EOPB-manufactured MDF mostly could comply with the standard requirement, despite its minor inferiorities that expectedly can be improved by using additive agents. To infer, proposing such alternative woody stuffs for pulp/paper with their appropriate processing can act as a substitute or supplement for the conventional wood materials. In this way, it can alleviate the substantial dependency of Indonesian pulp/paper manufacture on the regular wood materials which tend to deplete time after time. Further, these attempts can be regarded as an effort to achieve sustainable resources and to mitigate environmental concerns.