The nutritive value of different types of waste papers in Sudan

Nutrition is a major constraint for animal production in the Sudan due to rangeland deterioration and seasonal variations in feeds quality and quantity with serious shortages and effects on animals’ health and performance. In the dry season large amounts of different types of waste paper are available and are not properly recycled or utilized and they affect the environment. A study was conducted to determine the proximate analysis and in vitro gas production and predict the metabolizable energy in ten different types of waste paper including office paper. There were variations in proximate analysis, gas production and metabolizable energy among different types of waste paper. Crude protein was very low (0.3 – 0.9%) and crude fibre was high (45.95 – 58.7%) in different types of waste paper. Ash, EE and NFE varied greatly among types of waste paper. The gas production was highest in Roneo printed A4 paper and least in new newsprints. Metabolizable energy was higher in printed A4 paper (5.47- 5.56Mj/kg DM) and lowest in news prints (1.74- 2.77Mj/kg DM). The results showed that waste paper had low nutritive value and can be used as a basal diet for ruminants, especially in the dry season and droughts, and could be supplemented for better results.