Palm | Kelapa Sawit

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia can generate RM11.1 billion if it can convert raw empty fruit bunches (EFB) from the palm oil industry into pulp, says 1Green Enviro Sdn Bhd managing director Datuk Raymond Chan.


In a statement, 1Green Enviro said conventional industrial paper is made from a mix of 20 per cent softwood pulp and 80 per cent old corrugating cartons, which costs RM957 per metric tonne.

However, raw EFB cost as little as RM8.50 per metric tonne, while to generate the equivalent amount of pulp for paper-making, the cost is only RM31.88 per tonne.

"This represents a 30-fold cost savings and profit for manufacturers who substitute EFB pulp for softwood-corrugating carton pulp," it said.

EFB are not normally used as raw material for paper due to the difficulties of removing lignin and other cellulose materials without damaging the fibres, it said.

1Green Enviro is going full force with the construction of an integrated pulp-and-paper mill that will produce up to 70,000 metric tonnes of industrial brown paper a year, making it the biggest mill in Malaysia and the world to use EFB as raw material.

The company will use its patented technology for producing Recycled Bleached Mechanised Pulp to produce better pulp fibres than existing methods, said deputy chairman Lim Thiam Huat.

Chan added: "We have a low-cost competitive edge and our main raw material comes from biomass that is so abundant.

"By setting up localised operations, we can reduce logistic costs and retain the low-cost advantage. Indonesia is an obvious technology export market as together with Malaysia, we control 80 per cent of the world's palm oil market."

He noted that if Malaysia can convert all its EFB into pulp, the country can save 88 million trees a year.

In 2010, Malaysian palm oil mills produced 70 million metric tonnes of biomass wastes, including 19.30 million metric tonnes of raw EFB.

Source: Bernama