Current methods of making paper are often toxic, wasteful of water and energy, and terribly unsustainable. Recycling only goes so far; what's needed is an alternative method of making paper that is less-harmful to begin with. Papyrus Australia thinks they have that alternative: Banana Ply Paper."Banana trees only live for about a year, and after the bunch is harvested, the tree is allowed to rot down. In Banana trees, the fibres run the full length of the tree, compared to around 1mm in wood-chip. Our process takes advantage of the properties of this waste material, in a process that has more similarities to the production of plywood than to paper. No toxic chemicals or water is needed, and the process uses a fraction of the energy of a typical wood-chip paper plant."
Apart from the environment - friendly aspect, the production costs for banana paper are estimated to be less than 1/5th of those traditional pulp paper, and the capital investment costs just 3% of those required for pulp paper production. The big question: is there enough banana production to keep up with the global demand for paper?
via : world changing.