Does watermelon rind waste (Citratus Lannatus) have the potential to be an environmentally friendly paper towel?

This study aimed to evaluate the preparation and characterization of paper towels from watermelon rind waste. The paper towel manufacturing process had several stages: the drying process, pulping process, bleaching process, and printing process. There were five treatments, including paper towels use of NaOH 2.5 M with pulp recycling, paper towels use of 1 NaOH with pulp recycling, paper towels use of 1 NaOH, paper towels use of 1 NaOH with additives, and paper towels use of 1 NaOH with different drying time (110 oC for 60 minutes with ten days of the natural drying). Several characterizations have been employed, such as physical and mechanical properties and optical and chemical properties. The treatments of paper towels were tested, and the test results were compared with SNI 7891: 2017. From the FTIR test, it was observed that the functional groups formed from paper towels from watermelon rind waste. From the Microscope test, paper towels from watermelon skin should be added with materials with long fibers. Based on Physical and Mechanical Characterization, paper towels comply with the SNI. Based on optical characterization, it complies with the SNI for treatments 4 and 5. Chemical characterization is higher than standard. It can be concluded that the natural paper towels from watermelon rind waste comply with the standard of SNI ISO 7891:2017 about Basic Paper towels within the parameter of grammage and water absorption capacity, Tensile strength except for the parameter of tensile strength, pH extract, and fluorescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]