May 22 6:41 PM KOTA KINABALU, SABAH, Universiti Malaysia Sabah researchershave come up with an innovation that would not only benefit oil palmplantations, but also the people, with an alternative source of income.Using oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB), a team from the InternationalTropical Forestry School has produced high-strength layered paper whichcan be used to make heavy-duty bags and envelopes.

This could also provide another avenue for plantations to get rid of theEFB and for the local communities, there will be the economic benefits ofproducing high-strength layered paper from oil palm waste.

According to researcher Awang Ahmad Yunus, high- strength layered papercan be produced at cottage and small-scale industry level using simplepaper-making technology.

The total investment to set up a processing plant is about RM114,000, asum which can probably come from plantations to uplift the economic statusof local communities.

"EFB has short fibres, so we have used netting material to create a bondbetween two layers. This way we can create high-strength paper.

"The end-product is suitable for packaging materials such as paper andcement bags and for other types of heavy-duty use," he said.

The innovation bagged a gold medal at the 33rd International Exhibition ofInventions 2005 in Geneva last month.

Awang worked on the project for several years with his colleagues DrMahmud Sudin, who is also dean of the school, and Associate Prof Dr RazakWahab.

He said the innovation had generated interest in some quarters, showingthat there was commercial value for such a product.

"EFB can be blended with different types of products such as kenaf, bambooand cotton netting."