Pineapple Leaf Fibers: Potential Green Resources for Pulp and Paper Production

In recent decades, advances in pulp and paper making involve immense chopping of trees, which consecutively leads to clearing of forests. Rising contest for provisions of wood fibers combined with progressively increasing expenses of wood has caused increased attention in the consumption of agricultural residues for pulp and paper manufacturing in the developed and developing nations. The utilization of natural cellulosic plant residues in pulping and paper production might be necessary since it avoids the necessity for clearance, which presently rises the expenditures of farming and induces ecological deterioration by toxic wastes. The significant goals of this chapter are threefold; (1) to examine the requirements for utilization and improvement of natural cellulosic plant fibers in pulping and paper making; (2) to recognize the various issues related with the utilization of natural plant residues in pulp and paper production, and remedies accessible; and (3) to examine the prospects of various natural cellulosic plant fibers for pulp and paper making and recognize the potential of using pineapple leaf fiber as an alternate source materials in pulp and paper manufacturing mills. Better mechanical characteristics, a renewable resource, and reasonable price are some of the leading aspects that make great prospective of pineapple leaf fibers to be employed as a replacement for conventional wood fibers in pulp and paper production industries.