Panda paper

A Chinese animal centre is making sure nothing goes to waste with its proposal to turn panda dung into paper.
Liao Jun, a researcher at Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Base, says the idea came to workers during a visit to Thailand where they came across paper made from elephant dung. They thought fibre-rich panda droppings would produce an even finer quality paper and are in talks with several paper mills. Jing Jing, Ke Bi, Ya Ya and dozens of other pandas living at the Chengdu breeding base produce around 200 tonnes of dung each year, which consists mainly of bamboo and fibre. The animals lack an efficient digestive tract and absorb less than 20% of what they eat.
It is hoped waste from the pandas will be turned into reams of office paper and rolls of wrapping paper. The researchers are aiming to bring a production line on stream by next year. Mr Liao says: ’We are not interested in doing this for the profits but to recycle the waste. It’s environmentally friendly, we can use the paper ourselves and also we can sell whatever is left over.’€™