Production of Handmade Paper from the Sugar Cane Bagasse Pulping

Abstract

Nowadays, Brazil is considered the leading country, worldwide, in the production of sugarcane. Therefore, it is also the largest producer of residual biomass: the sugarcane bagasse. This is produced in different activities, such as biofuel, beverage, and sugar production. As all conventional waste, if improperly disposed of it can impact the environment and therefore, it is necessary to use methods to recover this biomass so that it can be returned as a consumer good. Thus, this work aims to use sugarcane bagasse from pastry shops in Duque de Caxias, RJ, to produce paper using homemade techniques. In this sense, the pulping method was performed by cooking the fibers in a pressure cooker in alkaline medium, washing and drying. Subsequently, the fibers obtained were molded on an A4 screen. Two sheets and three replicas were produced. The results obtained showed that the paper production was efficient and the physical measurements, grammage, area, mass, thickness, height and width, calculated by ANOVA and Tukey's Method showed equal values in each case, which indicates the quality of the production. In addition, the physical characteristics classified them as Kraft type paper, which can be used in craft activities.