Foreword. Klaus Lampe Director General

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Foreword. Klaus Lampe Director General"

Chester Lambert
5 years ago
Views:

2 Foreword Smoke clouds hang over harvested rice fields as farmers in Southeast Asia burn the straw. Most of them consider rice straw a waste. Burning is the easiest way to dispose of it. A 1986 pilot project to manufacture art paper from rice straw was launched by Ms. Fe Frialde in Los Baños near the International Rice Research Institute. Frialde, who was trained to make paper from indigenous fibers by the Forest Products Research and Development Institute, Los Baños, initially employed five part-time students and housewives, from the local barrio. The cottage industry was stimulated through Prosperity Through Rice, a joint project of IRRI and the University of the Philippines at Los Baños that finds uses for rice byproducts. The Asian Development Bank sponsored the Prosperity project. The Technology and Livelihood Resource Center of the Philippines granted Frialde a loan in 1988 to install equipment to streamline the production process. Today, Frialde's industry employs about 79 persons, and her products are sold worldwide. The main ingredient, rice straw, is a free byproduct from IRRI's experimental fields. "We would never have gotten started without IRRI," Frialde recalls. "IRRI gave us our first order to print its 1986 'Season s Greetings cards." Even more important was a widely published IRRI news release that brought the first outside customers to Frialde. Word-of-mouth did the rest. Mike Ortega, former IRRI assistant editor, prepared Making Paper from Rice Straw with the assistance of Frialde; Dr. Thomas R. Hargrove, head, IRRI Information Center; and IRRI artists. IRRI published this booklet as a public service to stimulate the use of rice byproducts. We hope that papermaking will generate income and employment in both rural and urban areas. Klaus Lampe Director General

4 Making Paper From Rice Straw The craft of making paper by hand is said to have started in China in AD 105. Papermaking eventually developed into a fine art and has since become part of the many exotic skills of Chinese. Japanese, and Korean artists. In the Philippines, research on using indigenous materials for handmade paper was started in the late 1970s by Design Center Philippines and the Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI). In the mid-1980s FPRDI, the University of the Philippines at Los Baños, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and the Asian Development Bank pooled their expertise and resources to encourage papermaking using rice straw as part of a "Prosperity Through Rice Project." Papermaking from rice straw is suitable for small- and medium-scale enterprises. Aside from providing rural employment, the industry also helps utilize what is normally considered waste. There are about more than 100 handmade paper manufacturers today. Among the more succesful is one in Los Baños, Laguna, managed by Fe Frialde. Frialde started in 1986 with five people working in one room. She now employs 70 part-time workers, mostly students and housewives from the area. Frialde produces cards, stationeries, papier-mache boxes, dolls, and art paper using free rice straw from IRRI's experimental fields. Her products are exported to the U.S., Australia, Europe, and Japan.

5 The steps described in this brochure come largely from Frialde's experiences. Through trial and error, she developed new products and modified procedures to suit specific requirements. As Frialde puts it, the manufacturer is limited only by his imagination. This brochure contains the basic materials and procedures to make paper from rice straw. It also has instructions on optional procedures such as bleaching and dyeing.

6 3

7 TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT Sharp scissors or knife Screen box Stainless steel cauldron or drum Measuring cups Weighing scale Stove 4

8 TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT Wooden mortar and pestle Vat or basin Mold and deckle (a pair of movable rectangular wooden frames with a detachable screen) Cheesecloth Rolling pin Drying board (plain galvanized iron sheet) 5

9 BASIC PROCEDURES A. Pulping Materials Rice straw Water Caustic soda Amount 1 kilogram 20 liters 180 grams 6

10 BASIC PROCEDURES Step 1. Cut the rice straw into 2.5-centimeter (1 inch) lengths. Screen the straw to remove dirt. 7

11 BASIC PROCEDURES Step 2. In a cauldron, cook the straw with water and caustic soda for 3 to 4 hours. The straw is ready when it crumbles when pinched, 8

12 BASIC PROCEDURES Step 3. Wash the cooked straw under running water and crush it using a wooden mortar and pestle. 9

13 BASIC PROCEDURES Step 4. Screen the cooked straw to remove dirt. The remaining material is called the pulp. 10

14 BASIC PROCEDURES Step 5. Wrap the pulp with cheesecloth and squeeze out the water. 11

15 BASIC PROCEDURES 6. Sheet Forming Materials Rice straw pulp Water Starch Rosin size Powdered alum Okra juice Amount 1 kilogram 50 liters 100 grams 20 grams 40 grams 250 milliliters (1 cup) 12

16 BASIC PROCEDURES Step 1. Mix the pulp with water in a vat or a large basin. For thick paper, use less water. For thin paper, use more water. 13

17 BASIC PROCEDURES Step 2. Add the starch, rosin size, powdered alum, and okra juice (optional). Mix well. 14

18 BASIC PROCEDURES Step 3. Dip the mold and deckle into the vat or basin to catch as much pulp as necessary to make paper of the desired thickness. 15

19 BASIC PROCEDURES Step 4. Tilt the mold and deckle back and forth to spread pulp evenly. 16

20 ~ BASIC PROCEDURES Step 5. Separate the deckle from the mold and lay the molded pulp on cheesecloth. 17

21 BASIC PROCEDURES Step 6. Cover the pulp sheet with cheesecloth and, with a rolling pin, squeeze out excess water. 18

22 BASIC PROCEDURES Step 7. Separate the sheet from the screen and lay it on the drying board. 19

23 BASIC PROCEDURES Step 8. Cover the sheet with a cheesecloth blotter and squeeze out the excess water with a rolling pin. 20

24 BASIC PROCEDURES Step 9. Remove the blotter or cheesecloth and let the sheet dry under the sun. 21

25 OPTIONAL PROCESSES (To be done before Sheet Forming) A. Bleaching Materials Rice straw pulp Water Sodium hypochlorite Amount 1 kilo 17 liters 1 liter 22

26 OPTIONAL PROCESSES Step 1. Bleach 1 kilogram of pulp in hot water and Sodium hypochlorite. Cover and let stand for 1 hour. 23

27 OPTIONAL PROCESSES Step 2. Wash the bleached pulp. Let dry. 24

28 OPTIONAL PROCEESES B. Dyeing Materials Rice straw pulp Water Dye Rock salt Amount 1 kilogram 20 liters varies; depends on shade of paper 200 grams 25

29 OPTIONAL PROCESSES Step 1. Boil 1 kilo of pulp in a dyebath made from water, dye, and rock salt for 10 minutes. 26

30 OPTIONAL PROCESSES Step 2. Wash the pulp in running water. Let dry 27

31 Notes

32 Notes

33 Notes

Nepal Woman Crafts An Innovative Approach to Promoting Women Entrepreneurship and Productive Employment

Nepal Woman Crafts An Innovative Approach to Promoting Women Entrepreneurship and Productive Employment International Conference on Green Enterprises and Green Industrial Parks a step forward for innovative