Turning abaca wastes into export grade handicraft

By Rizalina K. Araral
MediaCore, FPRDI

The ‘mountains' of wastes generated every year by abaca plantations can be turned into export-quality handicrafts.

Researcher Simplicia B. Katigbak's team found that 328.5 million kilos of abaca wastes a year can be transformed into novelty products fit for foreign markets using simple chemical treatment,.

“This finding is critical”, she says, “because the Philippines' multi-million dollar handicraft industry has a limited raw material base and needs all the substitute materials it can find.”

Katigbak reports that “As much as three-fourths of the abaca plant is left in the plantation to rot once the tuxy or good fiber is harvested.  Being the “abaca capital of the world”, the Philippines produces as much as 438 million kilos of raw materials a year from 133,563 hectares of plantation. You can just imagine the volume of wastes available for industry to use.”

The appearance of abaca wastes improves through “bleaching in commercial bleach for 30 minutes for optimal brightness, soaking in formulated bleach for 30 minutes results to good tensile strength, and drying to 18% moisture content made abaca pliant enough for weaving. We also treated them with 0.2% thiocyanomethyl thiobenzothiozole or TCMTB for two weeks to protect them from fungi”, Katigbak disclosed.

A handicraft exporter in Calamba City, Laguna who made sample baskets computed that producing a 380 x 300 x 300 mm basket from abaca wastes costs P75 or P10 more than unbleached items with no anti-fungal treatment.

“The additional cost,” says Katigbak, “will be off-set by mass production and is compensated by the high value added by proper processing techniques.

Handmade paper laboratory

Entrepreneurs, students, and researchers may now learn about the art and science of handmade paper production in the country's first handmade paper laboratory at the Forest Products Research and Development Institute based in Los Baños.

The laboratory was inaugurated during FPRDI's 47th anniversary last July 2, and as part of FPRDI's commitment to showcase the technology to the public.

“It is both a testing and processing laboratory where business people and students can see for themselves the techniques and facilities used in making handmade paper,” says Cesar O. Austria, who leads FPRDI's handmade paper program.

“Industry players lag behind their counterparts in China in product quality and resource availability and FPRDI is determined to give them the support they need.  We plan to help reduce the high cost of handmade paper production in the Philippines by designing affordable equipment, studying potential raw materials, and working towards standardization”, he added.