Browsing by Author "Byaruhanga, J K"

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    Characterisation and evaluation of pulp and paper from selected Ugandan grasses for paper industry.
    (Cellulose Chemistry and Technology, 2014) Kamoga, Omar L; Kirabira, J B; Byaruhanga, J K; Godiyal, R D; Anupam Kumar
    The consumption of paper worldwide has escalated by 400 percent in the last 4 decades and around 4 billion trees are cut across the globe for pulp and paper mills on every continent.1 This has caused global deforestation and forest degradation, creating an ecological and climatic imbalance, in addition to making homeless 300 million people who consider forests their home around the globe.2 Realizing such severe consequences, major pulp and paper producing companies worldwide have considered not to cut down natural forests any longer,3 while groups of researchers in pulp and paper are working towards exploring non-wood lignocellulosic materials and recyclable fibres for assessment and expansion of their pulp and papermaking capability.4 Non-wood fibrous materials and recycled fibres offer a great opportunity to decrease or even replace the use of wood fibres.5 In recent years, the attention has been focused on g rasses6 and the hope of many countries, including Uganda, with insufficient forest resources lies in grasses for production of any virgin pulp. Uganda, a country spread on 236,040 km2 with a population of about 35 million, has a forest cover estimated at 14% of the land surface and it is decreasing at a rate of 2% per year due to increasing population, which relies on agriculture for survival and much on wood for energy. 7 Nevertheless, Uganda is blessed with conducive equatorial type climate, which is ideal for the growth of many types of grasses that stand as potential raw materials for paper industry. These highly prospective grasses need to be investigated. Currently, many grasses are regarded as bothersome weeds in gardens and as a burden to farmers during the planting seasons. In urban areas, grasses that are cleared from compounds burden municipal authorities, in terms of their disposal since they don’t bring any economic benefits to most communities.