Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 21, 1993 TAG: 9311190045
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARC RICE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Medium
Some early experiments with the fast-growing vine produced a poor-quality paper sample, but Jeffrey S. Hsieh, director of pulp and paper engineering at Georgia Tech, says kudzu has enough potential to warrant more experimentation.
The vast majority of paper produced in the United States uses wood fiber as its base, though nonwood fibers are used for such things as dollar bills and cigarette paper.
"In a nutshell, kudzu can be made into paper. The quality is not so good . . . which is as we expected," Hsieh said. "We never expected kudzu to be used to replace the wooden fibers, rather as a supplemental component."
Hsieh, like other researchers in the paper field, is involved in work on nonwood fibers for paper, driven by the belief that worldwide demand for paper someday may outstrip the supply of harvestable trees.
The kudzu experiments began in a rather offhand way last year.
Hsieh and students "were escorting some people through Georgia on a bus, and you see a lot of kudzu on the highway," he recalled. "One guy said, `You drive too slow, the kudzu will grow faster than you're driving.'
"We were joking about it, but the kudzu was on our minds. Then in the lab . . . we said, `Do you want to try something different?' "
Initial experiments were done with the bark on the vine because it is difficult to separate the two, Hsieh said. The results produced fiber that was little more than mush and left too much waste.
But when another test was done, adding the chemical anthraquinone, the results were good enough to encourage the scientists, according to Hsieh.
Kudzu, which was imported from Japan in the 19th century mainly for use as a ground cover to prevent erosion, is capable of growing up to 60 feet a year. Fields, trees and traffic signs overgrown with kudzu are a common sight in the South.
A commercial use for the vine has long been desired, though no one has been able to develop one. Last month, Harvard Medical School researchers released a study saying an Oriental remedy for alcoholism, including extracts of kudzu root, seems to work.
As a paper-making element, kudzu has a long way to go, said Bob Hurter, chairman of the nonwood plant fibers committee of the Technical Association for the Pulp and Paper Industry.
"The costs with harvesting and storage can be a problem, and removing the bark. Those may or may not be able to be overcome," said Hurter, who heads a consulting firm in Ottawa, Canada.
"I cannot envision anyone growing fields and fields of kudzu to make paper," he said.
Yet he would not rule out kudzu finding some niche, if more tests are successful.
"At this point, it's too early to dismiss it and too early to jump in with both feet," he said.
J.R. Miller, director of pulp technology at Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific Corp., a leading paper maker, said the kudzu research bears watching, although there is no urgent need for such fiber.
"I think there could be good potential," Miller said. "Even if the fiber is not satisfactory for printing and writing paper, there are many other uses where it could have an application . . . tissue or newsprint."
Miller said the problems of bark-removal, harvesting and storage could be solved.
Hsieh, who with colleagues published a kudzu research paper in April and presented a more extensive one at a conference Tuesday, agreed that much more work needs to be done. He is pursuing it on a small scale and hoping he can get outside funding for more work.
"Before we even get to asking which grade of paper it can be used for, we've got to optimize our procedures. You don't even make wood paper without removing the bark - the paper would be lousy," Hsieh said. "You've got to give the kudzu a fair chance after you get the right things our traditional pulp and paper makers consider adequate."
by CNB