Making Paper with Non-Wood Plant Fiber

Non-wood plant fibers have been used to make paper for centuries. Nowadays jute, kenaf and other similar fibers are cultivated in Southeast Asia and the Far East. Kenaf is one of the allied fibers of jute and shows similar 22characteristics. Kenaf was long used for pulp production in Bengal and came to the attention of the West probably in the late nineteenth century when it was noted as a strong fiber, that was superior in strength to even the paper from which the Bank of England notes were made. The kenaf plant has been selected from 500 other plants as the most promising non-wood fiber alternative for the manufacture of paper. While kenaf has been traditionally used for sacking and packing material, it is becoming increasingly clear that it can be a fine paper alternative too: specialty papers, high-quality writing paper and newsprint can all be made from kenaf.