The Making of Eco-Friendly Manila Paper by Utilizing Nata de Coco as Additional Material

Abstract

HVS paper waste is excessively abundant and thus requires further processing to reduce the waste level and to improve its utilization value. The advanced processing into manila paper will require other additional materials such as nata de coco due to its relatively high cellulose content. Nata de coco also has relatively short production timing, most of its cellulose product is in the form of sheet, and it is also chemical substance free. The best physical quality in the manila paper production is affected by tearing resistance, tensile resistance, and cracking resistance. All these resistances may be obtained by adding adhesive materials such as Pv Ac. The selection of Pv Ac is due to its high adhesive ability, solvability in water and low price. Besides the influence of tensile resistance, cracking resistance and tearing resistance, the production of manila paper is also affected by the precision of material concentration added. Thus, further research is required to identify the appropriate concentration for both additional materials (nata de coco and Pv Ac adhesive). The method used in this research was Group Random Planning consisting of two factors with two replications. Factor I was nata de coco concentration to paper at 4 levels, namely 40%, 50%, 60%, and 70% w/w. Factor II was adhesive concentration to the mixture of nata de coco and pulp of HVS used paper at 3 levels, namely 0%, 2% and 4% w/w. Physical analysis of manila paper used Analysis of Variance or ANOVA, which involved grammage test, tensile resistance test, tearing resistance test, cracking resistance test, thickness test, and water content test. The use of Multiple Attribute method to achieve the best treatment indicated that the results of the best physical quality of the manila paper were obtained from the treatment using 40% nata de coco concentration with 4% Pv Ac adhesive. Manila paper with 40% nata de coco concentration and 4% Pv Ac adhesive may produce grammage rate of 148.76 g/m2, tensile resistance of 17.10 kgf, tearing resistance of 5.56 gf, cracking resistance of 1.11 kPa m2/g, thickness of 0.27 mm, and water content of 3.47%.