Alkaline pre-treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of waste papers to fermentable sugar

Abstract

Waste paper is known to be the major component of organic solid waste. In this research, waste paper was used as a feedstock for the production of fermentable sugar with the aid of two (2) microorganisms. The waste papers used included newspaper, office paper and foolscap paper. Enzymatic hydrolysis was carried out on the waste papers after the alkaline treatment using Aspergillus niger and Pseudomonas aeruginosa at different temperatures of 25°C, 37°C and 42°C. The highest yield was obtained from the foolscap paper, which produced reducing sugar at a maximum concentration of 486.66 mg/L after two weeks using Pseudomonas aeruginosa at 37°C. On the other hand, hydrolysing using Aspergillus niger, produced reducing sugar at a maximum concentration of 365 mg/L at an optimum temperature of 25°C with office paper.