Bagasse, rice straw and coconut fibre are non-wood lignocellulose materials which exist abundantly in Indonesia. On the other hand the utilization of these materials are still limited, therefore there is still a lot of chance to utilize theses materials for several products.
FPRDC, Bogor has conducted the research on the utilization of rice straw from the waste of mushroom cultivation and bagasse for fibre board and also the research on coconut fibre for cement board. The fibre board were processed by hot soda pulping.
Beside the pulp made from bagasse and coconut fibre the pulp also made from Paraserianthes falcataris with the same process for making fibre board.
The method used for fibre board was wet process with the density of 0.77-0.79 g/cm(3) (Medium density). Bending strength (MOR) of fibre board from bagasse and rice straw met FAO standard whereas for other properties did not. The addition of 50% of P. falcataria pulp improve the properties of fibre board where the MOR and tensile strength meet FAO standard.
Coconut fibre can be used for cement board after soaking in cold water for 24 hours. The ratio between cement and coconut fibre was 1.75:1 (w/w) and the catalyst used in this study were lime, calcium chloride and alum.
Keywords: Bagasse, rice straw, coconut fibre, fibre board and cement board.