Ray N. Geganto
Philippine Paper Manufacturers Association Inc.,
2F FMF Business Center, 126 Pioneer St., Mandaluyong City, Philippines Corresponding author: [email protected]
ABSTRACT
The non-wood pulping industry in the Philippines started with its first sugarcane bagasse-based paper mill, Bais Paper Mill, in the late ‘40’s. This project was followed by Bataan Pulp and Paper Mill in the mid ‘60’s, based on bamboo and by United Pulp and Paper Co. in the mid 70’s, based also on bagasse. The non-wood fibers were chemically-pulped in these mills and used in their integrated paper machines to produce printing and writing paper and sackkraft for packaging. The mills operated well in the initial years but were later beset by competing uses for the original raw materials (which restrained the fiber supply) and declining market for some paper products (which lowered profitability). In the three decades ending 2015, integrated paper making in the country based on large-scale utilization of agri-residues or annual fibers did not flourish and the sad experience unfortunately discouraged new ventures in this area. While in the same period, the Abaca fiber business (Musa textilis Nee, known as Manila hemp) in Philippines gradually industrialized and expanded with the establishment of up to five (5) small pulp mills producing a long-fibered non- wood pulp mainly used in making specialty papers like teabags and filters. And for several years one or two paper mills actually used abaca pulp to make cigarette and other high-value paper grades. Due to the high cost of abaca itself, this non-wood pulp has become too expensive for use by local paper mills and is now only exported to developed countries (about 30,000 Tons/year). Today, no paper mill in the country runs on non-wood fiber and the non-wood pulp industry is accounted for only by the abaca pulp exporting mills. The only real practice of non-wood pulp-based paper making in the country remains with a few handmade paper makers who still pulp agri-residues and wild plants (such as waste abaca, banana, salago, and grasses) using micro- equipment, backyard-craft; and some even shifted partly to just buying finished abaca pulp and recycled paper. This presentation is aimed at looking at the circumstances that led to the failure of non-wood based paper making in the Philippines, hopefully finding solutions that may restore confidence for new investments at utilizing non-wood fibers for pulp and paper, and discussing selected projects in non-wood pulping that were recommended under an industry roadmap drawn by the paper manufacturers association.
Keywords: non-wood pulping; abaca; agri-residues; roadmap
PIONEERING NON-WOOD PULP PROJECTS IN PHILIPPINES
Central Azucarera de Bais paper mill – Built in 1946 by a major sugar mill at the central province of Negros during the post-war reconstruction period, the country’s first integrated paper mill was designed to run on sugarcane bagasse using the Celdecor-Pomilio process at pulping capacity of 9,000 Tons/year. The bleached bagasse pulp was blended with imported pulp and made into printing and writing paper in two paper machines with a combined capacity of 14,000 Tons/year. Because the Philippines is a net oil importer, the oil crisis of the 70’s hit the industry badly. Bagasse became more valuable as energy source than as feedstock for paper pulp. Its limited supply to paper making
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worsened when low sugar prices in the world market shortened the milling periods. The pulp mill was eventually shut down and, by the 80’s, the paper machines were converted to recycled paper.
United Pulp and Paper Co. – Established in 1975 by the Phinma Group at Bulacan province, originally to meet the sack kraft paper requirements of cement manufacturers, was the country’s biggest venture in non-wood pulp and paper making. Bagasse collected from nearby sugar mills were depithed by the modern wet method and pulped using the soda process. The pulp was reinforced with unbleached kraft softwood from a local market pulp mill to produce sack paper with good tensile energy absorption (TEA) quality in an integrated 95 Ton/day papermachine. This project truly linked the sugar and paper industries in one of the earliest waste exchange program in significant terms, because the bagasse based-product transcended its application to packaging by a willing and robust end-user – the cement industry. When woven polypropylene (WPP) bags became popular packaging material for cement, the sack paper was relegated to a secondary packaging material (inner-ply), shrinking the paper mill’s market and opening the competition to low-stretch quality paper made cheaply by recycled paper mills. Like the first non-wood project (Bais) bagasse supply for pulping became limited as a major source sugar mill closed due to low market price for sugar; and whatever remains of the bagasse available from sugar mills located farther and smaller in sizes are now utilized mostly as fuel for steam boilers and co-gen power plants. Plagued further by rising environmental restrictions on integrated mills lacking the standard chemical recovery systems, UPPC shut down its non-wood pulp mill by the mid-80’s and converted to recycled corrugating containerboard at its paper machine.
Bataan Pulp and Paper Mill – Constructed in 1962 by the Rufino Group with technical participation from Boise Cascade of the U.S., this integrated mill was originally built to run using bamboo from nearby plantations as a major raw material. As the country’s first kraft pulp mill complete with a chemical recovery system, Bataan pulped bamboo and hardwoods from sawmill and logging wastes, blended with kraft softwood and bleached with chlorine to produce 22,000 Tons/year of fine writing and specialty papers. As demand for bamboo in the furniture and construction sectors grew, the price of bamboo became too expensive for pulp and paper and, coupled with an unsustained supply of wood wastes in the area, Bataan eventually replaced its pulp mill with a deinking plant in the 80’s and converted its paper machine to recycled printing paper.
There were at least five other lesser-known (smaller) pulp and paper projects built or seriously planned to run originally using non-wood fibers bagasse, rice straw and abaca; some even had the pulping and paper equipments installed or procured but the projects, caught in the energy and economic crises that gripped the country in 70’s and 80’s, were either aborted or converted along the way to recycled paper.
THE ABACA PULP INDUSTRY – A background
The advent of nylon ropes combined with the development of abaca (Manila hemp) as an excellent pulp material for teabag, filters, banknote, food casing and other specialty applications led to an industrialization of the Manila hemp sector. From the 70’s up to the turn of the century, six pulp mills were built with a combined production capacity of 35,000 Tons/year specialty, long fibered chemical pulp using high-grade abaca fiber. One mill however had to close down because of its proximity to the urban center of Metro Manila, which presented higher costs of raw material, labor, and compliance with environmental regulations.
At least two local paper mills actually utilized abaca pulp for cigarette and other specialty grades during the 70’s to 80’s, but today almost all abaca pulp are exported. There is now no linkage at all with the local paper industry, whose production are mostly commodity grades of recycled containerboard, printing, tissue and other packaging papers.
NON-WOOD PULPING TECHNOLOGIES USED AND THE INDUSTRY PROBLEMS Sugarcane bagasse and bamboo were pulped using batch or continuous digesters, such as Pandia- type chemipulper and inclined digester. Bagasse was pulped with the Celdecor-Pomilio and soda processes; while bamboo was pulped with the kraft process. The mill built for bamboo had an alkaline recovery system (which worked after the pulp mill converted to all-wood). Up to the time that all
167 bagasse and bamboo mills had closed, no technology upgrades like CTMP or ECF bleaching were made.
Abaca is pulped using globe and tumbling digesters, The pulping process for abaca is soda and sulfite and this is still practised. Bleaching is still done with hypochlorite, but some abaca mills are gradually shifting to reduced- or no-chlorine bleaching such as with use of peroxide or no bleaching at all for certain grades of pulp. In the late 70’s, a rice straw-based project named Luxembourg, Ph was envisioned as an integrated pulp and paper mill for the central province of Iloilo to produce 15,000 tons/year fine paper but was shelved due to lack of capital. Another project, named People’s Paper Mill, an integrated chemical pulp and paper mill to produce 10,000 tons/year printing and writing paper in Nueva Ecija actually had the equipments brought in from its Joint venture partners in China and construction actually started at an alternate site during mid-80’s. But the project was also aborted due to lack of funds.
In summary, the circumstances that led to the closure of earlier non-wood pulp and paper mills, bagasse and bamboo, were:
1. Competing uses for the fibers, such as for construction (bamboo) and for fuel (bagasse) that limited their availabilities for pulp and paper,
2. Fast rising demand, not matched by the rate of planting in the agriculture side (bamboo); or by the generation as limited by (sugar) industry slowdown in the 80’s -90’s. This rendered the cost of the materials expensive for pulp and paper.
3. Inability of the earlier projects to expand to improve on economies of scale, or 4. Failure to upgrade production technologies, including environmental performance.
Meanwhile, abaca pulp mills currently operating have capacities ranging from 12-40 Tons/day a.d. pulp, sizes too small to support a standard chemical recovery system. The mills operate under high costs of chemicals, utilities and wastewater treatment. Water usages can exceed 100 m3/ton pulp and power is purchased from the public Grid at high rates, since base load power input to the national grid is generated from natural gas and imported coal or oil.
Aside therefore from abaca pulp that is exported for specialty applications overseas and small- scale pulping of abaca and banana wastes, grasses or bast fibers by handmade paper craft makers, there is now no major non-wood pulping industry that can be linked to the local paper manufacturing industry, much less direct use of non-wood pulp in an integrated paper mill in Philippines.
OUTLOOK FOR NON-WOOD FIBERS UNDER THE PAPER INDUSTRY ROADMAP In an industry Roadmap submitted to the country’s Board of Investments, the Philippine Paper Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (PPMAI) recognized the reasons why the pulp and paper industry in the Philippines has not developed as strongly as that of our Asian neighbors;
foremost among which are the gaps in fiber supply chain. The only integrated, forest-based paper mill, PICOP in southern Phils., shutdown in 2009, its operations plagued in its last 20 years by declining newsprint market, loss of forest rights and equipment obsolescence. Since then, there is no local production of virgin pulp (whether wood pulp or non-wood) for use in local paper making.
Existing paper mills run only commodity grades such as newsprint, containerboard and other recycled printing and packaging papers, relying mostly on local recycled paper which in turn is short of supply and low in quality.
In addition therefore to a plan to establish the country’s only kraft market pulp mill based on tree plantations, it was proposed to develop the commercial utilization of agri-residues such as rice straw, banana and other farm/plantation wastes, as well as annual fibers like abaca wastes, bamboo (again?) and bast fibers. It is proposed in the Industry Roadmap to establish a number of small, non-wood pulp and paper mills with sizes ranging from 20 to 50 Tons/day, or even 80-100 TPD to achieve some degree of economy of scale depending on main fiber source, location and market for the pulp or paper product.
Major non-woods (agri-wastes, annual fibers, and plant basts) recommended for priority development as raw material for manufacturing of paper pulp under the industry Roadmap are:
1. Rice straw – one resource that has not seen industrial use for pulp and paper in the Philippines, despite its abundance and absence of large-scale competing use, unlike bamboo and bagasse.
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Every harvest season, millions of tons of this material is burned or simply dumped aside around the country’s rice producing areas totaling 4.6 Million hectares.
Fig. 1. Rice straw left out as waste or burned Fig. 2. Rice straw, dried and baled can be transported over long distances as raw
material for paper pulp
There are at least four (4) strategic areas in the country that a rice straw mill can be located: Central Luzon, Panay, Leyte, and Cotabato, with pulp production capacities of 10,000-20,000 tons/year.
The country can use rice straw to support the production of fine papers for printing and writing, as well as food-grade paper and other packagings which include molded pulp. It is believed that rice straw collection, transport, and storage problems can be greatly addressed by using good balers.
Raw material supply and product quality problems associated with the use of rice straw can be solved by alternate pulping at the same mill with other non-wood fibers like banana and abaca wastes or bast long fibers, which can substitute imported softwood pulp in the paper machine.
Pulping technologies can now shift to semichemical or chemithermomechanical (CTMP) and bleaching processes that use minimum or no chlorine.
2. Banana wastes (Musa Acuminata xBalbisiana) – industrial utilization of banana wastes for pulp and paper is a logical step at developing a sizeable source of long-fiber pulp, with almost 0.5 Million hectares of plantations and smallholder farms growing bananas throughout the country.
Research and actual use by handmade paper makers have shown that banana can be a practical reinforcing fiber for recycled bag paper, due to its good tearing and tensile strengths. The advantage of using banana wastes for local pulp and paper making is that it is generated in large volumes, esp. in contiguous areas like the plantations; and, unlike abaca, banana wastes have no established commercial usage as a fiber source for specialty paper. At least one non-wood pulp mill using mainly waste banana fiber is recommended for the country’s Central Mindanao area with a capacity range of 15,000-30,000 tons/year.
3. Abaca wastes - not all abaca fibers produced by farmers are processed for cordage and specialty pulp, resulting to significant amounts of low- or non-grade fibers generated from stripping the plant for the high-grade fibers bought by pulp mills exporting specialty pulp and cordage manufacturers. For every kg of premium abaca fiber produced, waste fibers amounting to 2-4 times the quantity of premium fibers is generated from the tuxying and stripping process. The paper industry Roadmap proposed that this abaca waste can be pulped for use by the paper industry to improve the quality of recycled papers, by blending as long-fiber in small amounts. At 4-8% in selected grades of packaging and printing papers (e.g. testliner, bag paper and office paper), the local paper industry can use up to 20,000 tons/year of commodity-grade but long fiber pulp from waste abaca fibers.
169 Fig. 3. Abaca stripping wastes generated from the production of premium quality fibers Small, non-wood pulp mills based on this material can be established in the country’s Southern Luzon, Bicol Region and Southern Leyte/Northeastern Mindanao, three (3) production sites having 6,000-10,000 tons/year capacities. These projects will generate additional income for abaca farmers and develop a (secondary) market for abaca wastes and non-premium abaca pulp by integrating it with local paper production. The same program can also utilize new abaca fibers from the hybrid (disease-resistant) program that, if planted over large areas, may generate a supply in excess of the requirements for cordage and specialty pulp mills.
4. Other agri-residues pineapple, tobacco, and oil palm fiber wastes – gaining relevance for impending utilization on a commercial scale are waste fibers from pineapple, tobacco, and palm oil industries, due to their availabilities in large volumes and pre-processed state from existing industries and plantations.
Fig. 4. Pineapple plantation waste Fig. 5. Pineapple processing waste Research are being done on pineapple wastes as a source of pulp, comprising the leaves and crowns from pineapple harvesting operations, as well as the pineapple processing plant residue after extraction of the fruit and juice. Some handmade paper makers are actually running production trials on this material with promising results in terms of pulp yields and quality.
More R&D work is needed to produce more convincing results that can form a basis for commercial utilization of these waste agri-residues as alternative sources of pulp and paper.
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Fig. 6. Pineapple processing residue after extaction of fruit and juice.
Other Annual fibers
5. Bamboo (family Poaceae) – Bamboo has been proposed as a major species to plant under the Phils.’ Enhanced National Greening Program in line with the national campaign to rehabilitate critical watersheds and contribute to carbon sequestration drive. The country has currently more than 37,000 has. bamboo plantations, located mostly in northern Luzon. The industry Roadmap submitted by the bamboo sector to the government and other stakeholders proposes to expand the bamboo cultivation to many more areas around the country, mainly to support the raw material requirements of the construction, handicraft and engineered bamboo industries. The pulp and paper sector may not be able to pay for the price of bamboo that these sectors can offer, but if by sheer volume of these markets the supply and consumption of bamboo grown in mass plantations rises to more-than sufficient levels, a large volume of bamboo processing and harvesting wastes may become available (as chips) at a cost affordable for pulp and paper making.
Figs. 7 and 8. Bamboo in Philippines is used mostly for construction and handicraft
New Bast Fiber Development
A popular bast fiber used in Philippines for pulp and paper is salago (Wikstroemia Spp, family Thymelaeceae), a sturdy, slow-growing shrub in primary and secondary forests throughout the country at low and medium altitudes (Ref. 1). However, such utilization is small as this is done mainly by handmade paper makers. Kenaf cultivation was tried in the country but the results were not promising, hence its potential for pulp and paper has not been realized until now.
171 6. EKPI bast fiber – new fiber source from a special breed of Sayapo plant
In 1996, Earthkeepers P.I. (EKPI), a non-government organization (NGO) of scientists, foresters, and engineers registered in the State of California, U.S., began searching for an annual fiber plant indigenous to the Philippines and with similar qualities as kenaf that can be used for reforesting denuded lands and can be grown for plantations forests. The efforts led to the discovery of Sayapo [Trichospermum eriopodum (Turcz) Merr]* from the family Malvaceae, a wild, mallows, woody (but non-timber) species endemic to the Philippine islands of Luzon, Mindanao, Leyte, Samar, Palawan, Negros, Siargao and Batanes. Its covering bark yields a strong bast fiber used for centuries by the natives, especially in Visayas as a source for ropes, twine, carrying bags and clothing.
Figs. 9 and 10 Sayapo EKPI spp. is split-leaf; grows naturally without fertilizer, irrigation, pesticide and tilling
*Sayapo is also identified in Biodiversity Heritage Library as species Grewia eriopoda Turcz., family Tiliaceae.
After ten (10) years of trial plantings from mother plants and research experiments, EKPI has finally developed a special breed it now calls EKPI tree. EKPI trees grow much faster than the parent species and mature in 3 years to a height of 35-40 m. It is planted on 1x1 m spacing (10,000 trees) per hectare and, by Year 3, the trees having diameters of 8” (20-25 cm) and bigger (about 25-30%of standing stock) are harvested. Onwards, the next 30% are harvested every year with no more need of replanting.
Bast fiber yield can be as high as 18 kgs per tree, using a good multi-fiber decorticating machine, or 30-50 tons bast fiber/ha.
The EKPI bast fiber contains 63% alpha cellulose, which is higher than that of abaca and kenaf.
Ash content is 2.83% (same as abaca and cotton); and Lignin content at 8.5% is similar to abaca.
Pulping Yield using the soda-anthraquinone process typical for non-woods abaca and salago is above 50% and the pulp has the strength qualities as shown is Table 1.
The soda pulp from EKPI bast fiber can be bleached with short chlorine and non-chlorine bleaching sequences to product pulp of more than 80% brightness (ISO).
The EKPI tree’s soft, but woody, core can be pelletized or briquetted and co-fired as a supplemental, renewable fuel at existing coal power plants without need for retrofit. On this basis, and together with the fact its bast fiber can be a good source of long fiber pulp, it is now recommended that EKPI Sayapo trees be considered for planting in parts of the 5,000 has.