KENAF
(Hibiscus cannabinus):
An Ecological
Alternative to Virgin Wood-Based Paper
The kenaf plant is considered
one of the most promising alternatives to virgin soft and hard woods for paper
production. An herbaceous annual related to cotton and okra, kenaf is a member
of the mallow family indigenous to West Africa.
The US Department of Agriculture
(USDA) began researching kenaf in the 1940s, when World War II put a stop to
jute imports from Asia. In 1960, the USDA chose kenaf from among five hundred
candidates as the most promising non-wood fiber for pulp and paper production.
After much research and numerous trials runs, kenaf paper is now available from
several commercial retailers and is being used by major corporations, printing
and graphics firms and publishers.
- Companies like Apple,
Sony, Warner Bros., REI, J.C. Penny, The Nature Co., The Gap, Esprit International
and Birkenstock have begun to use kenaf paper for catalogues and other purposes.
- Major Printing and Graphics
firms such as Kinkos, Anderson Lithographics, George Rice and Sons, Ventura
Printing and Lithographix now provide printing services on kenaf paper.
- Earth Island Institute's
Earth Island Journal was the first magazine to be printed entirely on 100%
'tree-free' kenaf paper. Two and a half years later, the journal continues
to be printed on kenaf. On Earth Day, 1995, conservationist David Brower's
latest book, Let the Mountains Talk, Let the Rivers Run (HarperCollins) became
the first hardcover book to be published on 100% kenaf paper. Several other
books have been published on kenaf, including Proceedings from the First Biomass
Conference of the America's: Energy, Environment, Agriculture and Industry,
and Peter Kreitler's The Earth's Killer C's.
The USDA identified kenaf
as the best non-wood paper alternative for several reasons:
- Rapid growth: Kenaf reaches
12-18 feet in 150 days, while southern pine (A species commonly grown on tree
plantations) must grow 14 to 17 years before it can be harvested.
- .High yield: Kenaf also
yields more fiber per acre than southern pine producing 5-10 tons of dry fiber
per acre, or approximately 3 to 5 times as much as southern pine.
- Exceptional papermaking
characteristics: Less chemicals, heat and time are required to pulp kenaf
fibers because they are not as tough as woodpulp and contain less lignin (an
average kenaf plant contains only 9% lignin, while southern pine contains
29% lignin). Lignin is a resin that binds the cellulose fibers in plants or
trees together. Toxic chemicals such as chlorine are predominantly used to
delignify and bleach wood pulp. Kenaf can be quickly and easily pulped and
bleached with harmless chemicals, such as hydrogen peroxide. Despite its commercial
and environmental advantages, the kenaf paper industry is as yet undeveloped.
As of August 1995, New Mexico's Vision Paper was the only company commercially
producing kenaf paper in the US. Vision Paper manufactured 200 tons of kenaf
paper in 1994. Due to significant industry start up costs, smaller economies
of scale and government subsidies to the pulp, paper and timber industries,
kenaf paper is more expensive than virgin wood-based papers.
Virgin wood-based papers
may be cheap, but these prices do not reflect environmental costs which have
been externalized by the pulp, paper, and timber industries. The destruction
of ancient forest ecosystems, fragmentation of wildlife habitat and the pollution
of water systems are the most obvious. If the enormous costs of restoration
are taken into account, development of the kenaf paper industry, which would
leave forests intact while simultaneously reducing industrial pollution and
energy consumption, begins to make both economic and ecological "cents/sense."
However, depending on how the kenaf industry develops several environmental
problems could arise.
- Large scale monoculture
farming is often chemically intensive. Currently only one pesticide and two
herbicides are registered for use on kenaf. However, as the industry expands,
there is concern that chemical usage could increase. However, pest-tolerant
kenaf varieties and rotation with other pest-resistant crops (e.g. corn) effectively
and organically combat kenaf pests such as nematodes. RTP is currently investigating
other non-polluting solutions to kenaf pest and disease problems.
- Kenaf, like many virgin
wood fibers, is presently pulped by the kraft process. Pulping is a polluting
process. However, kenaf pulping requires less chemical inputs and consumes
less energy than most virgin wood pulping processes and is thus less polluting.
- In the United States,
kenaf is bleached with hydrogen peroxide. During the bleaching process hydrogen
peroxide breaks down into H2O (water). There is concern that a growing kenaf
industry, striving to compete with wood-based paper prices, may begin to bleach
their paper with chlorine. Chlorine, which is commonly used to brighten wood
pulp, is substantially less expensive than hydrogen peroxide. However mounting
evidence points to frightening ecological and human health risks associated
with the chlorine bleaching of wood pulp.
Despite these concerns,
kenaf paper production saves critical forest habitat and is considerably less
polluting and environmentally destructive than virgin wood-based paper production.
Our job is to insure that as the kenaf industry develops, environmental concerns
remain a priority.
For more information, e-mail
the ReThink Paper at ffpc@igc.apc.org
More information
* Resources for kenaf suppliers
and suppliers of other ecological paper options
* Wood Consumption Facts
* The main components of
ReThink Paper
* Tree-free fibers and paper
* What you can do to be
more "forest friendly"
* RTP Home Page
* Earth Island Journal:100
percent tree-free since 1994.