MEDIA RELEASE 18 February 2010
Papyrus Australia wins Investor Ready and Cleantech Awards
Papyrus Australia, developer of a world-first technology that converts the waste
trunk of the banana palm into alternatives to forest wood products, was recently
awarded the Investor Ready Award by South Australia's Top 20 Innovation Awards.
Papyrus also won the KPMG Excellence in Cleantech Award and the Finalist Clever
Green Innovators to Watch Award by South Australia's CleverGreen™ Innovators to
Watch Awards.
The CleverGreen™ Innovators to Watch Awards 2009, announced last night in
Adelaide, identified and rewarded South Australian companies developing
innovative products and services with a positive impact on the environment and
economy.
The Investor Ready Award, announced at a function held in Adelaide on Friday, 5
February, was dedicated to the business with the most complete package for
investors; the innovation judged to be a commercially exciting proposition for
capital investment.
Announcing the winners, the judges described Papyrus as an exciting proposition,
both commercially and for the environment.
"An innovation that completely comes from left field yet is remarkably simple in
concept and stunning as an answer to many environmental and social questions,"
said the Awards judges.
Papyrus' managing director Ramy Azer was present to accept the Awards.
"More than 15 years of research and development were put into the Papyrus
technology and we are proud to be recognised for our efforts," said Azer.
"The technology is well placed to provide both the timber and paper industries
with a new, innovative, low cost and environmentally sustainable solution," he
added.
Papyrus Australia Limited, which began trading on the ASX in 2005, was founded
in 1995 in response to an increasingly stringent environmental and regulatory
situation facing the paper industry.
The Papyrus technology takes an otherwise unused waste material to produce
alternatives to forest wood products such as paper and paperboard, wood based
panels, veneer and other fibre products.
The process uses a renewable fibre source that is fully sustainable, does not
contribute to the destruction of natural or purpose-planted forests and does not
consume any chemicals or water during manufacture. The process also has
significantly lower production costs when compared to traditional tree pulping
technologies.
The Papyrus products are water-repellent, fire-retardant, are stronger and
lighter than most conventional fibre materials and have a distinctive look and
feel.
Papyrus Australia's commercialisation strategy is to become a technology
licensing company assisting suitable entities to establish banana veneer and
banana fibre production factories in locations where banana is grown. The first
step in this process is to prove the technology and validate the commercial
values of banana veneer and fibre products in a production environment.
To do so, Papyrus opened its first processing plant in Walkamin, Far North
Queensland. The factory is able to produce commercial quantities of fibreboard
and veneer products which are currently exported to European veneer company 3W
Tout Bois.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the
world consumption in 2008 for wood-based panels was 356 million metric tonnes to
the value of AUD$160 billion while 380 million metric tonnes of paper and paper
board to the value of AUD$411 billion were consumed.
The Papyrus patent was granted in Australia in 2007 and the technology is
patent-protected in many countries around the world.
More information on Papyrus is available at
www.papyrusaustralia.com.au
Released for Papyrus Australia by Dennis Rutzou Public Relations (www.drpr.com.au)
For further information please call Kim Larochelle or Joanna Gitsham on (02)
9413 4244.
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