Republic of the Philippines

City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
Olongapo City Sports Complex, Donor St. East Tapinac, Olongapo 2200
Telefax No.: (047) 224-2089

Project Pedro: Coir and Pomelo Peels as Raw Materials of

Paper Bag with Taro Wax Biocoating

Researchers:

Bacobe, Mac Orvin A.

Caser, Therese Angelie R.

Hsing, Mark Andrei

Mamaril, Banessa Kaye

Ragat, Kate Angel A.

12 STEM A

Research Advisers:

Mrs. Diana Grace M. Vallar

Mr. Chester P. Constantino

Project Pedro: Coir and Pomelo Peels as Raw Materials of Paper Bag with Taro Wax Biocoating
 Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
Olongapo City Sports Complex, Donor St. East Tapinac, Olongapo 2200
Telefax No.: (047) 224-2089

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The Background of the Study

With the increasingly noticeable impact of climate change and global warming– such as
the increase in super typhoons, an approach towards a more environmentally conscious society
is in order. This can be observed in how vehicles powered by electricity and not natural gases,
alongside hybrids, are becoming more prevalent. Renewable energy sources have also become
more cost-efficient, as seen with Tesla’s solar roof tiles.

Should the human species fail to undo global warming, to remove the excess
greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere, the consequences will be dire. Entire ecosystems will
be undone with the mass extinction event that may follow, entire countries could be submerged
underwater, and fresh water sources could run out. Hence, one can see that this problem can
cause the end of civilization, or if not, cause great suffering. One concern that exacerbates the
issue is the continued use of trees in making paper.

Trees are of utmost importance in reducing the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
From this it can be said that continuing to cut them down will only reduce humanity’s odds of
solving this problem. As such, the researchers have decided to find an alternative source of
paper that can not only reduce the number of trees felled, but also make use of materials
commonly discarded– which also serves to reduce waste.

With all of this in mind, the researchers have determined the following materials to be
used for such a purpose: taro peel, coconut husk, and pomelo husk. Due to reasons stated in
the following paragraphs, the paper is to be used, not for writing, but to serve as a bag. The
organic nature of the product also makes it so that even if it were to be littered, it can serve as
fertilizer, given enough time to decompose.

Now, why choose a bag, of all things? Observe how paper is used by society and keep in
mind the technological advances. More paper is used more as a container– a bag. Its use in

Project Pedro: Coir and Pomelo Peels as Raw Materials of Paper Bag with Taro Wax Biocoating
 Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
Olongapo City Sports Complex, Donor St. East Tapinac, Olongapo 2200
Telefax No.: (047) 224-2089

writing is largely seen in schools, which, with the advent of technology, will slowly reduce the
need for such. One no longer needs paper to take note of something, for one can simply use
the note app of a phone to do so. Documents can be typed, instead of written. Due to how
errors can be easily removed and data of large quantities can be stored in such a small size,
taking digital notes consumes less resources. This makes it more appealing, in contrast to
paper, for a society that strives to be more eco-friendly. Digital libraries further emphasize the
benefit of it over paper– convenience, for a whole library can be stored in a phone.

Moreover, plastic waste has been giving trouble to people, known to be one of the root
of pollution in water, land, and even air when burned. Due to plastic waste problem being
encountered; many advocates started to propose solutions. Projects and programs like no
straws, zero plastic, and plastic free from fast-food chains was slowly implemented and even
department stores and some local supermarkets has been practicing the plastic free program
and uses paper bags and some accessories made of woods like tumblers, and Tupperware.
These such given solution may be a big help to environment but slowly these also created a
new problem that needed to be given attention.

According to one of the reports from NBC as cited by Markarian (2019), approximately
14 million trees are used to make Paper Shopping bags yearly by United States alone. In
addition, approximately 160,000km² of forest chopped down yearly or about 35% of trees are
being cut down to only produce paper (Villazon, n.d.). Even though trees are renewable
resources the fact that it takes several years to replenished was an enough reason for people to
reduce the production of papers using trees. To lessen the making of papers out of trees,
researchers look for new materials to be used in producing papers. Given the reasons above,
researchers had come up on reducing the production of papers out of trees by proposing other
raw materials to be used. But since writing papers requires complex testing, the output in the
study would be paper bag as testing that would be done in this is easier compare to writing
papers.

Project Pedro: Coir and Pomelo Peels as Raw Materials of Paper Bag with Taro Wax Biocoating
 Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
Olongapo City Sports Complex, Donor St. East Tapinac, Olongapo 2200
Telefax No.: (047) 224-2089

Further expounding on details regarding the materials, this research aims to produce an
eco-friendly and cost-effective paper bag made of residual wastes such as pomelo peels, and
coir. A study in 2018 proves that Citrus aurantium or bitter orange peeling is an excellent raw
material in producing paper. Since the Philippines has a high production of pomelo but leaves
residual waste after harvesting, the researchers see the potential of this as the raw materials in
papermaking. According to a study by Prathamesh Phadnis et. al (2018), coconut husk or coir
can be an alternative material in producing a paper and is proven to give good strong quality.
The researchers also wanted the product to have high strength because of its use as a
packaging material.

This research also aims to produce high water resistance paper bags. A study by Jutarut
Iewkittayakorna, et. al (2020) uses chitosan, glycerol, and beeswax solutions as a bio-coat. This
study concludes that bio coating solutions can improve the water-resistance quality of the
biodegradable pineapple fiber plates. A study by Kalita A. and Talukdar N. concluded that taro
leaves have a superhydrophobic bio-wax can be used as a surface coating substance for the
water-resistance quality of paper bags. The researchers had decided to extract beeswax from
taro leaves as the material in bio-coating.

As for who this is relevant to? This project would be of great help, especially to trees, as
it will only produce paper bags out of biodegradable waste. Aside from reducing the cut downs
of trees, researchers would also be able to lessen the pollution from environment as method
will be used in the study do not rely on modern technologies but rather would rely mostly on
manpower. Cutting trees would not be stop immediately and as for this reason researchers
aimed along with this project to reduce the cutting of trees by proposing a different raw
material namely pomelo peels, coconut husk, and taro peels that would be used to produce
paper bags. With this project that aims to save trees, many factors would be positively affected.
As existence of trees are very crucial to every living thing in Earth.

In conclusion, this study can help ameliorate the effects of global warming by using
commonly disposed organic materials, such as the zest of fruits and coconut husk, as an

Project Pedro: Coir and Pomelo Peels as Raw Materials of Paper Bag with Taro Wax Biocoating
 Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
Olongapo City Sports Complex, Donor St. East Tapinac, Olongapo 2200
Telefax No.: (047) 224-2089

alternative to wood for making paper bags. Alternative to paper bags are also more needed, in
comparison to that of writing paper, for the latter already exists and is already widely adopted.

Significance of the Study

Paper bag production is a huge help to consumers but the commonly used raw materials
greatly affect the production industries, consumers, and the environment.

The findings and implications of this study will redound to the benefit of society as it will
contribute to the vast knowledge about paper production - its raw materials and processes.
Vital results of this study could be highly significant and beneficial especially to the following:

Natural Environment. Paper production industries commonly used trees in their

making process. Trees are considered an abiotic component and are known as living organisms
that produce oxygen which is needed by mankind and animals, as well as work for the
toughness of the soils. Excessive tree cutting can greatly affect the natural flow of our
environment, the main beneficiary of this study is the natural environment itself. With this
study, awareness and best alternative raw materials besides wood for paper bag making will
make a big difference to the production and natural environment.

Paper Bag Production Industries. They are the ones that produce paper bags out of
wood. As cutting trees seemed to be part of their process, supplying woods should have its limit
knowing its effect on the surrounding. As the study aims to create a biodegradable with the
water-resistance quality bag out of residual waste as the raw materials, the paper bag
productions can innovate and improve their paper bag making without cutting numerous tall
trees to use woods. Furthermore, paper bag productions can develop more about other waste
materials that can be used to elevate and upgrade the paper bags itself that would make both
the environment and the production industries do better.

Consumers. Superstores use a low-quality paper bag that is easily damaged when it
gets in contact with wet products, which then causes inconvenience to their costumer. This

Project Pedro: Coir and Pomelo Peels as Raw Materials of Paper Bag with Taro Wax Biocoating
 Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
Olongapo City Sports Complex, Donor St. East Tapinac, Olongapo 2200
Telefax No.: (047) 224-2089

study aims to create a low-cost biodegradable bag designed to be durable, reusable, and
compostable for the consumers' convenience and conscientiousness.

Students. This study can help students to be aware of the environmental issues caused
by paper production and encourage them to be Eco-Conscious. Additionally, students will be
knowledgeable about the use of Pomelo peels, Coconut husk, and Taro leaves in the production
of paper bags aside from using wood fibers.

Future Researchers. This study will give adequate information to those who will
undergo a similar research topic i.e. Alternative Raw Materials for Paper Bag Production, and
serve as additional literature to their study.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

TERM DEFINITION
biocoating A porous polymer film that adheres to micro-organisms and holds
them on a surface within a bioreactor, sensor or biocatalyst.
biowax It is present in various plants like Taro and can be extracted with
chloroform. It allows the plant to repel water from its surface.
Coir It is the fiber from the outside of coconut husk, it will be used as
a raw material of paper bag.
chloroform Trichloromethane, is an organic compound that is colorless and
has strong-smell, it is commonly used as solvent and also in
extraction of leaf waxes.
Pomelo / Citrus maxima It is a citrus fruit which means that it has fibers. To be particular,
the Pomelo peels will be used as raw material of paper bag.
Taro (Colocasia Taro leaves is known for its hydrophobic surface which is covered
esculenta) Leaves with bio wax. The extracted wax from the Taro leaves will be
used in biocoating the paper bag for strength and water-
resistance quality.
zest Any piece of peel of citrus fruits( such as pomelo, orange, and/or
lemon).

Project Pedro: Coir and Pomelo Peels as Raw Materials of Paper Bag with Taro Wax Biocoating
 Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
Olongapo City Sports Complex, Donor St. East Tapinac, Olongapo 2200
Telefax No.: (047) 224-2089

REFERENCES

Markarian, Taylor. (April 18, 2019). 40 Facts That Will Make You Use Less Paper.
Retrieved on March 20, 2021 from https://www.rd.com/list/facts-to-make-you-use-less-paper/

Villazon, Luis. (n.d.). Is recycling paper bad for the environment? Retrieved on March
21, 2021 from https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/is-recycling-paper-bad-for-the-
environment/

Tatel, Maria Lovi S. (August, 2018). Amylum and Citrus aurantium L. peeling: Utilizing
into homemade paper. Retrieved on March 21, 2021 from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327175614_Amylum_and_Citrus_aurantium_L_peelin
g_Utilizing_into_homemade_paper.

Prathamesh Phadnis, Ashish Dongarjal, Rohan Patil, Shalmali Bhave, Shruti Runwal,
Chandraj Ketkale, Rohit Godbole, Prof. Vivek Nagnath. (April, 2018). Paper from Coconut Husk.
Retrieved on March 21, 2021 from
http://www.ijarse.com/images/fullpdf/1523555657_369IJARSE.pdf

Jutarut Iewkittayakorna; Piyaporn Khunthongkaewa; Yutthawee Wongnoiplaa; Kaewta

Kaewtatipb; Panumas Suybangdumc; Arrisa Sopajarnc (March 06, 2020). Biodegradable plates
made of pineapple leaf pulp with biocoatings to improve water resistance. Retrieved on March
21, 2021 from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340366111_Biodegradable_plates_made_of_pineappl
e_leaf_pulp_with_biocoatings_to_improve_water_resistance.

Akash Kalita and Nayan Talukdar. (2018). Olocasia Esculenta (L.) Leaf Bio-Wax as a
Hydrophobic Surface Coating Substance for Paperfor Preparinghydrophobic Paper Bags.
Retrieved on March 21, 2021 from
https://www.ijpbs.com/ijpbsadmin/upload/ijpbs_5b29a72987027.pdf.

Project Pedro: Coir and Pomelo Peels as Raw Materials of Paper Bag with Taro Wax Biocoating