Abstract: Fiber furnish for use in the manufacture of paper and paper-based products, the fiber furnish consisting essentially of plant petiole tissue, wherein substantially longitudinally aligned petiole fibers have been cut generally laterally to form fibers with a fiber length distribution such that at least 95% of the fibers have substantially the same predetermined fiber length.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for producing sheets from the pseudostems of banana plants in the family Musaceae, each pseudostem having a longitudinal axis. The method includes the steps of feeding a pseudostem (14) into a workstation, supporting (62, 34) the pseudostem for rotation thereof about its longitudinal axis within the workstation, and contacting the rotating pseudostem along substantially its entire length with a fiber-separating device (38), whereby a continuous sheet of fiber (60) is removed from the pseudostem by the fiber-separating device during rotation. Raw paper may also be made by laminating two or more of these sheets together such that the direction of the generally parallel fibers in at least two adjacent sheets is not aligned and then curing the sheets to form raw paper.

Abstract: Fibre furnish for use in the manufacture of paper and paper-based products, the fibre furnish consisting essentially of plant petiole tissue, wherein substantially longitudinally aligned petiole fibres have been cut generally laterally to form fibres with a fibre length distribution such that at least 95% of the fibres have substantially the same predetermined fibre length.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for producing sheets from the pseudostems of banana plants in the family Musaceae, each pseudostem having a longitudinal axis. The method includes the steps of feeding a pseudostem (14) into a workstation, supporting (62, 34) the pseudostem for rotation thereof about its longitudinal axis within the workstation, and contacting the rotating pseudostem along substantially its entire length with a fibre-separating device (38), whereby a continuous sheet of fibre (60) is removed from the pseudostem by the fibre-separating device during rotation. Raw paper may also be made by laminating two or more of these sheets together such that the direction of the generally parallel fibres in at least two adjacent sheets is not aligned and then curing the sheets to form raw paper.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for producing sheets from the pseudostems of banana plants in the family Musaceae, each pseudostem having a longitudinal axis. The method includes the steps of feeding a pseudostem (14) into a workstation, supporting (62, 34) the pseudostem for rotation thereof about its longitudinal axis within the workstation, and contacting the rotating pseudostem along substantially its entire length with a fibre-separating device (38), whereby a continuous sheet of fibre (60) is removed from the pseudostem by the fibre-separating device during rotation. Raw paper may also be made by laminating two or more of these sheets together such that the direction of the generally parallel fibres in at least two adjacent sheets is not aligned and then curing the sheets to form raw paper.