FPRDI low-cost dryer helps Japanese designer
July 7, 2015
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| Wataru Sakuma makes world class decors from handmade paper which in turn comes from agricultural wastes. |
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| The low-cost handicraft dryer is a cheaper, safer, and cleaner way for the Masaeco to dry its products. |
Wataru Sakuma, a Japanese designer based in the Philippines, is one of the newest adopters of the Department of Science and Technology - Forest Products Research and Development Institute’s (DOST-FPRDI) low-cost handicraft dryer (LCHD).
Maker of eco-friendly and world class handmade paper products, Sakuma reports that his 35 cubic meter LCHD has helped his company, the Cavite-based Masa Ecological Development, Inc. (Masaeco), dry its products more efficiently.
“We now have an easier and safer way of drying paper,” he says. “This gives us more control of the process, unlike before when we simply exposed our products to a direct heat source. This was a messy system that made a lot of ash which often soiled our products.
“Compared to our old kerosene-fired dryer, the handicraft dryer allows us to save as much as Php 60,000 – 70,000 a month on fuel cost. Also, without the ash problem, we now make cleaner paper and have fewer rejects. We also doubled our production, as the dryer is twice bigger than our old one.”
Made mostly of local agricultural wastes such as pineapple and banana fibers and cogon grass, Sakuma’s masterpieces are exported to the US, Europe, Japan and Australia.
“We make around 100 sheets of paper daily, each measuring 250 cm X 100 cm, and we convert these into art panels, wall decors and lamps. We found the handicraft dryer so useful that we decided to install another unit this year. Within the next few years, we will probably need a third one,” Sakuma relates.
His fresh product designs have earned for the artist the coveted Katha Award in 2005, 2006 and 2009. A highlight of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Design Week Philippines, the Katha Award is “given to designers and exporters whose products embody exceptional quality and high-caliber design in furniture, housewares and furnishings, holiday décor and gifts, and fashion.”
According to Sakuma, “Masaeco not only allows me to earn while expressing my artistry. It also allows me to pursue another passion – giving jobs to young people in the provinces so they will no longer be enticed to move to the provinces.”
The LCHD was developed by a research team led by Ms. Wency H. Carmelo. It uses 22 percent less wood fuel and 40 percent cheaper to build than the FPRDI Furnace-Type Lumber Dryer (FTLD). (Rizalina K. Araral, 03 July 2015)#
