Coconut pallets

Entrepreneur Michiel Vos plans to make transport pallets out of coconut husks. He expects them to be cheaper and more sustainable than traditional wooden pallets, explain Hans Wolkers in an article published by Wageningen World, the?magazine of Wageningen UR ?about contributing to the quality of life? (nr. 1, 2016). Coconut farmers will share the benefits. Worldwide billions of coconuts are harvested every year for their flesh and milk. Some uses already existing are, in case of horticulture, as growing media, but much of the husk of the nut is usually discarded. It can also be used as the raw material for hardboard, discovered Professor Jan van Dam and researcher Edwin Keijsers of Food & Biobased Research, part of Wageningen UR, together with partners from the Philippines. ?The husks contain a lot of lignin as well as fibre,? explains Keijsers. ?If milled husks are pressed at a high temperature and the right humidity level, the lignin reacts with the fibre and everything sticks together.? After it cools down you are left with strong board with has all the characteristics of MDF board, and yet is more sustainable and is made without glue. This brings the costs of the coconut board down by more than 30 percent compared with those of similar board made of wood or bamboo.??????????? You can find the complete article, pages 32 & 33: