Efforts have been taken to eliminate emissions resulting from pulping and

bleaching processes over the last 30 years. Significant advances were made for the
substantiated delignification processes. Plus, new pulping techniques have been
developed such that pulp can be bleached with chlorine-free bleaching agents.

The pineapple plant has a tall stem and a short rosette of dense leaves. During
blooming season, the stem grows towards the apex and puts out tiny purple or red
flowers. The stump continues to grow and grows a compact tuft of stiff, short, and spiny
leaves at the tip. Pineapple fruits are formed from flowers and then join together
creating a bony, fibrous, juicy, fleshy fruit up to 1 inch or more in height, with the stump
serving as the heart (Morton, 1987, as cited in Tran, 2006, p. 66).

Cellulose fibers are gaining popularity in textiles. Pineapple leaf fiber is cellulose
obtained from pineapple leaves. Tonnes of pineapple leaf fibers are being made, but
very little is being used. The pineapple leaf is generally being wasted in certain parts,
with only the fruit being used. The fibers extracted from pineapple leaves are long and
they have one of the strongest fineness indexes for vegetal fibers. According to Leao et
al. (2010), pineapple fiber yields between 15 and 35 tonnes per hectare. Fiber that ends
up in the landfill can have harmful effects. If the negative costs are minimized, the
profits will be made up for farmers (as cited in K. Ismoilov et al., 2019, p. 87).

According to K. Ismoilov et al. (2019), Pineapple leaves are selected either by

scrapping, retting, or decortication and used for certain purposes without any additional
input expense. PALF is creamy white, lustrous fiber. The pineapple leaf fiber is primarily
composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, wax, pectin, and other compounds. The
cellulose content is 56% to 82%. PALF adds excellent mechanical properties to fibers. It
has high basic strength and stiffness, and it is hydrophilic in nature. These fibers also
easily retain dyes.

According Mutje´, et al. (2004), processing of raw materials generates significant

volumes of wastewater with a high polluting potential - especially on traditional
processes using sulphites and sulphates, thus the fiber and lignin with organic solvents
should be extracted. Despite its long history, this modern generation of solvents were
not actually used until recently. Organosolv process has several benefits over
conventional counterparts. There are no sulphur, thus it is less polluting. Wood fiber
may be applied to any raw material to improve the toughness of the pulp. Moreover, the
organosolv process produces much less waste than conventional methods because
they allow for the recovery of solvents. Useless water, resources and reagents are very
costly and not cost-effective.

High quality cellulosic fibers obtained by one of these processes must be

processed to obtain high quality paper. The treatment is a refining process. During this
process, the outer layers of the fibers are removed and the fibers are placed in a
suspension of fine particles. Shearing and surface friction are enhanced by the effect of
shortening. The effect was an increased specific surface and volume. Thus, increased
binding potential during late drainage. The distance between fibers becomes short
enough to increase the paper's power (Mutje´, 1989).

Reinforced fibers make up a large part of composites. PALF has been proven as
a strong replacement of synthetic fibers. Strength of natural fibers is useful for improving
the strength of a polymer without using extra processing. The superior mechanical
properties of PALFs are due to their high cellulose content and low microfibrillar angle.
Enhanced PALF can be used as reinforcing composite material (Asim, et al., 2015).

Rodríguez, A., Espinosa, E., Domínguez-Robles, J., Sánchez, R., Bascón, I., & Rosal, A. (2018,
October 03). Different Solvents for Organosolv Pulping. Retrieved January 09, 2021, from
https://www.intechopen.com/books/pulp-and-paper-processing/different-solvents-for-
organosolv-pulping