Remediation of Oil Spills Using Pellets from Waste Papers and Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L) fibres

Abstract

The clean-up of oil spills from water bodies is a global problem. Enormous quantities of waste are generated from paper and paper products yearly, which constitutes to serious environmental pollution when disposed inappropriately. Consequently, it is essential to repurpose waste paper in a sustainable manner to address the remediation of oil spills. In this study, absorbent composite pellets of varying waste paper to kenaf fibers compositions were produced for oil remediation and evaluated for their physical (water absorption (WA) and thickness swelling), mechanical (modulus of elasticity (MoE), modulus of rupture (MoR) and impact strength) and remediation capabilities. The WA ranged from 404% to 546% with the highest obtained at 100% paper and the lowest obtained at 20% paper. Mechanical strengths increased with paper composition from 20% (2.19 N/mm², 0.08 N/mm², and 0.26 N/mm²) to 100% (6.23 N/mm², 0.17 N/mm², and 0.86 N/mm²) for MoE, MoR and Impact strength respectively. The pellets having 20% paper and 80% Kenaf pellet were recorded as optimum for the remediation of oil spills.