(188d) Reuse of Sustainable Wastes for Fibreboard Production: The Case of Waste Paper and Water Hyacinth

In this early study, new cement bonded bi-composite fibreboard (FB) was made from water hyacinth (WaHy) and waste paper (WP). Ordinary Portland cement (PdCe) used as a binder was mixed with other two additives; gypsum plasters (GyPl) and wood ash (WdAh) in defined proportions to form bonding matrices. The WP and WaHy were pre-treated and a linked process developed for the mixing and consolidation steps. The FBs produced were based on different proportions of composites, binder and additives mixed. Equal amount of composites mixed with binder and additive in ratio 2:1 by weight resulted in FB having acceptable densities properties. Improved tensile strength was observed for bi-composite FB from WaHy mixed with WP. In general, FB having densities in the range of 0.50 – 0.57 gcm^-3 compared favourably with the ASTM and ANSI standards (95%), thus making the FBs a potential alternative for building and construction purposes. More elaborate research with advanced analytical techniques are hereby suggested.