The environmental and economic impact of using plant fibres for the production of low cost materials in developing countries

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These examples seem good news for the countries producing plants suitable for fibres 
extraction: however, the automotive market is dominated by a few gigantic companies, 
with capitals owned in developed countries, and this may introduce again a “cash crop” 
philosophy in dealing with plant fibres as plastic replacement materials (Moir 2002). In 
addition, a number of different fibres are available and already investigated, or in some 
cases used for material reinforcement: a list has been compiled, which is reported in 
Appendix. This can possibly result in a competition between producer countries, most 
of which are located in the Third World, so that the fibres would be paid as low-cost 
commodities, and consequently their market would have a scarce effect on 
development.  
In the complex situation of plant fibres market for plastic replacement, the case of coir 
in Sri Lanka has been selected for study, for three main reasons. Firstly, coir is a by-
product of coconut palms: these offer a number of products, including some primary 
ones (e.g., palm oil, coconut flesh) (a detailed list is given in Table 1.1). Therefore, coir 
fibres production would not mean, at least in principle, to introduce a new “cash crop”. 
Secondly, in Sri Lanka a long tradition exists of using coir to produce a number of 
different items, among which are puppets, bags, mats, etc. Therefore, this country 
appears to be in a good position to use this local fibre in plastics replacement materials. 
However, for coir technology to have really a positive impact on development in Sri 
Lanka, the whole cycle of production of coir-reinforced materials (from fibre extraction 
to finite product) has ideally to be carried out in the country (Jafferjee 2002). Thirdly, in 
comparison with other developing countries, Sri Lanka has a relative political stability, 
which should allow, at least in principle, a continuous and steady supply of fibres to 
materials manufacturing (Mason 2003).  
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Table 1.1 Coconut products  
Product Description Major markets 
Desiccated coconut Desiccated coconut, made out of 
coconut kernel, is used in the 
confectionery industry. 
European Union, 
Finland, Turkey, 
Egypt, UAE and 
Brazil. 
Coir twine Made out of bristle fibre (long fibre) 
or bristle fibre mixed with omatt fibre 
(short fibre) according to buyer 
specifications. 
USA, UK, France, 
South Korea and 
Japan.  
Doormats 
(Handmade/Machine made) 
Doormats are made out of coir twine 
or yarn or coir fibre mixed with jute 
yarn. 
European Union and 
Bulgaria. 
Doormats                      
(Coir with steel springs) 
Doormats are made out of coir fibre 
using steel springs, especially suitable 
for winter. 
Germany, Netherlands 
and UK. 
Charcoal Briquettes This product, made out of coconut 
shell, is especially processed for 
outdoor and indoor barbeques as well 
as for domestic heating. 
Middle East  
 
Activated Carbon The raw material used for the 
manufacture of activated carbon is 
coconut shell charcoal. Coconut shell 
charcoal, unlike wood and coal, is not 
chemically activated and is therefore 
ideally suited for use in food 
processing and the production of 
medicines. These can be used in 
various industries for purification. 
USA, South Africa, 
UK, Japan and 
Canada. 
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Geotextiles 
 
Geo-textiles, used for erosion control, 
soil stabilization and landscaping, are 
environmentally friendly materials. 
South Korea, Japan, 
Netherlands and 
Germany. 
Rubberised Coir Products 
for Horticultural and 
Agricultural Industry 
Inner layers of flower pots, basket 
liners, support poles for creepers and 
rubberised coir geotextiles are 
manufactured by spraying coir fibre 
with compounded latex. 
Korea, Japan, 
Netherlands and 
Germany.  
Rubberised Coir Mattresses Mixture of coir fibre and latex is 
steam heated, pressed and vulcanised 
to produce mattresses. 
Germany and Japan.  
Coco Peat Products In the process of extracting fibre from 
the coconut husk, the residue, which 
consists mainly of a powdery mixture, 
is known as coco peat and is used as a 
substitute for peat moss in Europe. 
Coir peat is exported in briquettes, 
blocks, disks or grow bags and forms. 
Netherlands, Italy, 
Japan, South Korea 
and Taiwan.  
 
Coconut Cream and Milk 
 
100% pure concentrate of coconut 
kernel, without artificial flavours or 
preservatives, is used in curries and 
desserts. 
UK, Middle East, 
Netherlands, Australia, 
France and Germany. 
 
The above considerations suggest that the possibility exists for a renovated coir industry 
to be determinant for the development of Sri Lanka economy, bringing an 
environmental advantage to the whole world. This is a present issue, because in the next 
few years a substantial part of the process of replacement of plastics with biodegradable 
materials is likely to take place: therefore, this work is also trying to investigate how the 
situation will evolve in the foreseeable future.  
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1.2 The research problem  
Dealing with new uses for coir, a different perspective in the use of coir fibres also 
exists, which is particularly evident in the automotive industry. This concerns the use of 
plant fibres to replace glass fibres in composite materials i.e., materials including fibres 
as a reinforcement of a plastic resin, widely used in cars manufacturing (e.g., interior 
and door panels, bumpers). Recent legislation is aimed at making vehicle dismantling 
and recycling more environmentally friendly, setting clear quantified targets for reuse, 
recycling and recovery of vehicles and their components and pushing producers to 
manufacture new vehicles also with a view to their recyclability. As an example, the 
2000/53/EC Directive prescribes that from January 1, 2015, 95% of the mass of these 
cars is to be recycled and only the remaining 5% can be burnt to produce energy.   
In this respect, the biodegradability of plant fibres will become of even greater 
importance in the next decade, also because of the gradual introduction of fully 
sustainable composites. These are obtained embedding plant fibres in a biodegradable 
(e.g., cellulose-based) matrix replacing oil-derived polymer matrix, and are likely to 
have a considerable positive impact on environment (Rowell 2002). It is noteworthy 
that, whatever the application, a requisite to have an environmentally friendly material 
is the limitation, or ideally the absence, of non-biodegradable chemicals throughout the 
process leading from the fibre extraction to the fabrication of component. In practice, 
the most common reasons for treatment of fibres with chemicals are fungal growth 
prevention (Tsuchiya et al., 2003), improvement of rigidity (Rout et al., 2001) and 
odour masking (Witek et al., 2004). At this subject, recent criticisms concerned the 
scarce use or dissemination of LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) results in components made 
partially or exclusively using natural materials, such as coir fibres (Clift 2004). An 
extensive use of LCA would allow evaluating the environmental friendliness of the 
process leading to fibre extraction and the criticality of the quantities of chemicals 
introduced (if any).  
However, the environmental advantage needs to be added up with the envisaged social 
advantage i.e., the extent at which coir fibres production and marketing are able to 
contribute to the development of the main producing regions: Sri Lanka and some states 
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of India, such as Kerala (Rammohan 2003). In practice, for environmental gain to be 
apparent also in these regions, it is not sufficient to reverse the current trend of growing 
plastics use in developing countries, coming back locally to the traditional multi-
purpose use of coir fibres. In contrast, a limit needs also to be put to coconut palm 
plantations, trying to avoid monoculture and rather improving the exploitation of the 
existing palm trees (Jafferjee 2002). Difficulties in this process are likely to be 
encountered not only as an effect of the centralised structure of the automotive industry, 
as discussed above, but also a consequence of the local government structure, which 
may not be able to cope with pressure from multinational companies. The specific 
objection is that South-Asia people and institutions should work their own way through 
the current economic systems, challenging unequal distribution to resources. Failing 
this, poor people will continue to carry the burden for the all round environmental 
degradation and will be enmeshed in problems, processes and policies, such as cash-
crop exploitation of fibre producing crops, and slip much deeper into poverty 
(Gopalakrishnan et al., 2004). In addition, further exploitation of plant fibres with 
insufficient safety measures, as may be the case in a “cash crop” context, may worsen 
some typical problems of developing countries, such as Sri Lanka, as the presence of 
parasite-borne diseases. For example filariasis, a disease due to lymphatic parasites 
from anopheline mosquitoes (Nair 1961), was linked with coir cropping, especially 
because of water pollution due to retting (i.e., fibre extraction and cleaning) in South 
India and Sri Lanka (see Nelliyat 2003). 
 
 
 
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1.3 Justification 
Plant fibres production issue is crucial for both environment and Third World 
development. Coir, which has been used for at least 4000 years in Sri Lanka, may have 
the potential to become an environmentally friendly material of large use in the world. 
Natural rubber, recently coupled to coir in a number of industrial products (e.g., 
rubberised coir, which consists of natural latex and coir hair moulded into cushions and 
pads for the automotive industry) is also cropped in Sri Lanka, and this adds to the 
possibility of developing a local industry on coir-based plastic replacement products 
(Chand 1995). 
In the long run two extreme scenarios for plant fibres use can be imagined: either they 
will foster the development of Third World economy with added advantage for 
environment at planetary level, or they will be a further natural resource exploited in a 
"cash crop" philosophy from multinational companies, with negative impact locally and 
globally. 
In the case of coir production in Sri Lanka, two possibilities for the balance to be more 
favourable to the former scenario than the latter have been singled out: diversification of 
agricultural products (i.e., harvesting different plants that have conditions of cropping 
compatible with coir) and diversification of coconut palm products (including palm oil, 
coconut fruits and coir pith). In Sri Lanka, concern has been expressed about the 
exploitation of coir in a “cash crop” philosophy, so that experiments of diversification 
of agricultural production are taking place already, albeit with unimpressive results in 
terms of yielding and economic impact on the country (Moir 2002). However, the 
success in environmental terms of this operation will depend on how this change from 
oil-based plastics to natural plastics will be conducted at the different levels of political, 
economic and industrial decision-making.  
Also, investigating what is happening or is likely to happen in Sri Lanka in the next few 
years for the coir market and the coir-products industry, can stimulate discussion about 
other Third World countries and plant fibre market. The reason for this is that Sri Lanka 
appears to be in a particularly favourable position to develop an industry, which will 
have a positive impact on environment worldwide and on development locally. To