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Regenerated papers made from discarded natural sources, such as seaweeds or non-wood plants, are viewed as promising eco-friendly alternatives relative to conventional wood-based paper. However, due to its limited mechanical strength and higher water absorption than compared to traditional wood paper, it often results in premature structural disintegration. In order to overcome this limitation, this research introduces an efficient and comprehensive strategy of coating seaweed and plant papers with varying concentrations and molecular weights of chitosan. Increased concentration and molecular weight resulted in a greater amount of chitosan deposition, while the highest molecular weight also shows increased dissolution of soluble components of the paper. Since plants and seaweeds contain high anionic polysaccharide contents, the cationic chitosan shows high binding affinity towards paper. The resulting chitosan-coated papers demonstrate significant enhancements in water repellency and mechanical properties. In addition, the chitosan-coated papers also show significant bacterial inhibition effects due to the natural anti-microbial activity of chitosan.

The need for research into the use of alternative raw materials for the production of paper results from the anticipated shortages in the supply of raw-materials to the wood-based paper-industry. Although Burdwan town is vested with different types of algae, literally no work has been done for valorization of such biomass. Start of such bioprocess involves optimization of resource-utilization that is the main topic in this paper. Burdwan town was surveyed for collection of algae that were identified by morphologic characteristics under the microscope. Cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin, ash-content, water-retention-value, total carbohydrate and starch concentration of these algae were determined for assessing their feasibility in handmade-paper production. Element content in these algae was determined from energy-dispersive-X-ray-spectroscopy. Breaking-length and tensile-strength were the two parameters tested to assess hand-made-paper quality obtained from pulp extracted from the collected algae species. Data obtained were statistically evaluated with one-way analysis-of-variance followed by Tukey’s HSD (honest-significant-difference) test. Paper made from pure algae pulp was also tested for inter-fiber bonding with scanning-electron-microscopic-imaging. All experiments were repeated with Eucalyptus sp. pulp (wood) as control to assess the suitability of algal pulp as an alternative to the conventional wood pulp. Five algal species: Pithophora sp., Lyngbya sp., Hydrodiction sp., Cladophora sp. and Rhizoclonium sp. were collected. Although here were no statistically-significant differences (p = 0.8137) in biomass-compositional values from the studied algae species and Eucalyptus sp. pulp, paper quality parameters (Breaking-length and tensile-strength) varied significantly (p

Seaweed is a commodity which has great potency to be developed and commonly used in food and non-food industry, such as cosmetic and pharmaceutical. Currently, seaweed can also be utilized as raw material for pulp to support an environmental friendly paper industry. Research has been done by scientists from Korea who developed the processing technology of red algae by using extraction and bleaching process. The process is very simple, need less energy and environmental friendly chemical material. Red algae species which is used in this process is Gelidium amansii, which is very suitable for paper industry purposes and can be harvested in around 3 months, therefore this is different with wood pulp. There is a cooperation between Korea and Indonesiain producing Gelidium in Indonesia. This paper presents the assessment of red algae pulp processing technology and examines several matters that should be considered in developing red algae pulp industry in Indonesia. In term of resources, support from the government, universities and research institutions and acceptance of the industry.keywords : seaweed, red algae, extraction, paper, environment

Phyco-remediation of wastewater through microalgae is a promising area; hence, the study focused here is to analyse the growth and biochemical constituents of waste-grown microalgal strain collected from municipality wastewater of Baripada and industrial effluents of Emami Paper Mill, Balasore. Effluent samples were collected and brought to laboratory, and physicochemical parameters of the effluent were characterized. A total of seven microalgal taxa comprising of five cyanobacteria (single species of each genera Scytonema, Leptolyngbya, Pseudospongiococcus, Hapalosiphon, Dolichospermum) and two green algae (i.e. Scenedesmus sp. and Oocystis sp.) were isolated and selected for phyco-remediation potential. The strains were inoculated in different dilutions of effluents, viz. 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%, taking the culture media as positive control. The cultures were maintained at controlled condition, i.e. continuous light of 2400 lux with 25 °C temperature. The growth of algae; pigments such as chlorophylls, carotenoids and biliproteins; total carbohydrate and protein content were determined regularly using spectrophotometer up to 20 days. Scenedesmus sp. and Dolichospermum sp. showed maximum growth in 75% of diluted effluent, but in Hapalosiphon sp. it is 50% except Scytonema sp. which had a maximum growth in 100% effluent. Leptolyngbya showed comparatively maximum response of growth in control to the effluent. The macromolecular content and pigment contents also revealed the same trend as growth for the entire test organism.

Soil algal bioassays have been limited by their inability to evaluate several toxic endpoints because it is difficult to collect pure soil algae growing on and beneath the soil surface. This study describes the extension of a previously developed paper-disc method for analyzing soil toxicity to algae. The method can be used in conjunction with flow cytometric analysis and facilitates the assessment of previously proposed toxicity endpoints, such as the growth zone, biomass, and photosynthetic activity. We assessed the applicability of this paper-disc soil method using the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata exposed to nickel-contaminated soil; examined cell sizes, cell granularity, enzyme activity, and oxidative stress as new toxicity endpoints using flow cytometry; and identified morphological changes in green algae assayed. The results showed that, used in conjunction with flow cytometry, the extended paper-disc soil method is sufficiently sensitive to detect decreases in cell granularity in C. reinhardtii and esterase activity in P. subcapitata. The method also revealed decreases in growth zone, biomass, and electron transfer from the reaction center to the quinone pool. Collectively, the results of this study indicate that soil algal bioassays using nonspecific algae can be used to assess soil quality, to derive several toxicity endpoints for individual cells, and to evaluate previously established flow cytometric toxicity endpoints.

The need to reduce the use of traditional fertilizers and prevent soil degradation demands the search for new ways of fertilization. The combined application of waste materials (generated by the paper industry) and seaweed may be an alternative source of fertilization. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of pellets made of waste materials ash and sludge, produced by the paper industry with the addition of seaweed (Ulva lactuca L.) on the production of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) as an indicator plant and N mineralization in the soil. Two trials were conducted on an Entisol soil. The first trial evaluated the productive response of lettuce to the combined application of pellet+seaweed. Lettuce plants were grown in pots under greenhouse conditions for 3-mo. Three types of pellets, with and without seaweed added, were applied in doses of 10, 20, and 30 t ha-1. N mineralization was measured by 12 wk incubation, evaluating the three types of pellets with and without the addition of seaweed. The results showed that all the combined pellet+seaweed treatments had higher aerial biomass production (p ≤ 0.05) and increased chlorophyll content. The aerial biomass production reached 4.16 g pot-1 and was 7-fold higher than pellet treatments without seaweed, while chlorophyll content was 17% higher (p ≤ 0.05). In terms of N mineralization, the maximum release was recorded in the Pellet 3+seaweed treatment, reaching 55 mg kg-1. All the treatments with seaweed (p ≤ 0.05) better higher N mineralization values compared to the treatments without seaweed. Similarly, increased values for potentially mineralizable N and mineralization rate constant were observed in the treatments that included pellets+seaweed and seaweed alone compared to those consisting of pellets alone. The pellets+seaweed amendments resulted in an increase in soil N mineralization and production parameters of lettuce.

In this study, the ability of algae to treat a wood-based pulp and paper industry wastewater was investigated. Tests were performed in batch reactors seeded with a mixed culture of algae. Under different lighting and initial wastewater strength conditions, changes in COD, AOX and color contents of reactors were followed with time. Algae were found to remove up to 58% of COD, 84% of color and 80% of AOX from pulp and paper industry wastewaters. No remarkable differences were observed in COD and color when light intensity and wastewater strength were changed, while AOX removals were strongly affected. Algal species identification studies revealed that some green algae (Chlorella) and diatom species were dominant in the treatment. The study also showed that algae grew mixotrophically, while the main mechanism of color and organics removal from pulping effluents was partly metabolism and partly metabolic conversion of colored and chlorinated molecules to non-colored and non-chlorinated molecules. Adsorption onto algal biomass was not so effective.

The frequent occurrence of cyanobacterial blooms, caused by the eutrophication of water bodies, has triggered several ecological issues. Metal-controlled cyanobacteria are resulting in a series of secondary environmental problems and thus limiting environmental sustainability. Whether there is a more environmentally friendly way to replace metals in the removal of cyanobacteria is still unclear. To explore whether common heavy metals inhibit algal growth and whether Eucalyptus leaves (EL) can replace heavy metal ions in controlling algae outbreaks, here, we add Fe3+, Al3+, 3 mol/L of zinc (Zn3), 10 mol/L zinc (Zn10), and EL to a medium containing Cyanobacteria. We determine the medium’s color (456 nm), UV (254 nm), chlorophyll a, turbidity, temperature, pH, total dissolved solids, conductivity, and blue-green algae (BGA) at days 1, 4, 7, 11, 14, 19, and 21. We find that Fe3+, Al3+, Zn3, Zn10, and EL can inhibit chlorophyll synthesis, thereby impeding algae biomass growth due to metal ions’ disruption of the chlorophyll structure. The toxicity of Zn2+ may be higher than that of Fe3+ and Al3+ since it can completely destroy the structure of chlorophyll a. The damage of Zn (10) to chlorophyll a is stronger than that of Zn (3), indicating that high concentrations of metals have a stronger inhibitory effect on algae. The toxicity of EL to algae is lower than that of other metals, but it can significantly inhibit the growth of algae. We suggest the use of Eucalyptus leaves to inhibit algal growth in eutrophic water bodies. Our results provide a scientific basis for an environmentally friendly approach to controlling cyanobacteria outbreaks.