Oil palm fibres to be used as construction material
06/11/2002 The Star

Oil palm trunks, long considered an agricultural waste product, may soon be the latest feature in the construction of Malaysian homes, beginning with two pioneer projects in 2004.

The developers of lightweight reinforced cement composite panels – the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM), Brunsfield Resources Sdn Bhd and IJM Building Systems Sdn Bhd – said that the product could be used as internal partitions in the construction of houses and high-rise structures.

The chemically-treated fibres are mixed with about an equal amount of cement before being moulded into blocks of suitable sizes which are lighter in weight and can save about 30% in labour and building material costs.

Two property development projects in the Klang Valley, under IJM and Brunsfield, will commercially use the panels in the construction of 2,000 houses.

With the invention, Malaysia also became the first country in the world to use oil palm trunk fibres as reinforcement material in lightweight cement block manufacture.

Primary Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik, who witnessed the signing of the licence agreement between FRIM, Brunsfield and IJM, as well as a joint venture agreement between Brunsfield and IJM yesterday, said that research and development on the utilisation of oil palm biomass residues should be geared towards commercial exploitation.

''This is very appropriate since the oil palm plantation is now seen as an important source of biomass and Malaysia produces 13.64 million kg of biomass a year,'' he said in his speech at the signing ceremony at JW Marriott Hotel.