Our Factories

Papyrus Australia manages two operational factories in Egypt, a Banana Fibre Production Plant in Sohag and a Banana Fibre Moulding Plant in Sharqiah.

Sohag Factory

Sharqiah Factory

Social Impact

Sohag Banana Fibre Production Plant

Location: Al Kawthar Industrial District, Sohag, Egypt

Established: 2017

Employs: approximately 27 staff

Produces: raw banana fibre

Operated in co-operation with joint venture partner, Egypt Banana Fibre Company, our Sohag factory is a commercial scale demonstration plant showcasing our sustainable, chemical-free banana fibre processing technology.

The factory collects banana agri waste from the surrounding 2,500 acres of banana plantations and processes the waste into raw banana fibre.

The raw banana fibre provides the raw material to factories that create moulded food packaging products.

A biproduct of processing banana agri waste in the Sohag factory is valuable organic liquids. Papyrus is currently developing uses for the liquids including as an organic liquid fertiliser.

After a recent upgrade and installation of a new processing line, the Sohag factory has an installed capacity of processing up to 150 tonnes of banana plantation waste per day, which equates to approximately 50,000 tonnes per annum.

Papyrus operates the Sohag factory as a representative case study for developing countries where most of the world’s banana plantations are located. Originally developed in Australia, this established demonstration factory provides a model to showcase our technology, which can effectively be deployed in banana growing regions around the world.

Sharqiah Banana Fibre Moulding Plant

Location: Sharqiah, Egypt

Established: 2021

Employs: approximately 12 staff

Produces: moulded banana fibre food packaging products

Papyrus leased the Shaqiah fibre moulding facility in November 2021 to fast-track the testing and production of moulded food packaging products made from banana fibre.

Using raw fibre produced in the Sohag Factory, the plant is producing at a commercial scale with an output of approximately 2,000 egg trays per hour of operation. Other rotary moulded food packaging products are also able to be made.

The Sharqiah Fibre Moulding Plant showcases Papyrus’ commercial scale and demonstrates our ability to offer an environmentally friendly, cost competitive alternative to plastic food packaging.

Social Impact

Our factory operations include practices that deliver substantial community benefits, contributing to meaningful social and environmental change.

Papyrus Australia supports the principles of fairness, diversity, ethics and understanding in our factory workplaces and in our business relationships.
Our leaders exercise social responsibility in the management of employees and in our customer, supplier and shareholders relationships, effectively working to meet differing expectations.
Employment in our factories creates jobs that did not exist in these communities.

We train, upskill and develop our employees
Our teams are cohesive and welcome diversity in age, gender, beliefs and abilities
We aim to meet and exceed local employment conditions in our factories

Environmental Impact

Our world-first technology was developed to address sustainability, environmental degradation and create local economic and social community opportunities.

The Papyrus technology is designed for energy efficient processing, without the use of water or chemicals, to process the unutilised, environmentally problematic banana plantation waste.

Local banana plantation farmers support the Papyrus factories as the removal of their agri waste is beneficial:

The farmers eliminate the need for disposal of their agri waste which is otherwise problematic.

The banana tree trunk releases methane and greenhouse gases as it decomposes. This release is curtailed when processed with our technology, eliminating waste and pollution.

There is an abundant of sustainable supply from local plantations and jobs are created to supply the resources to our factories and in the product supply chain.

The products that can be produced in our factories displace environmentally damaging products such as plastics and forest sourced timber.

The development of new products in our factories will continue to create opportunities for communities and future generations.

In the spirit of environmental concern, nothing goes to waste in our factories, with all rubbish sorted, organic waste composted, and metal, wood and plastic sold to local contractors for repurposing and recycling.