**1. Introduction**

Oil palm seems like another promising alternative to reduce the dependency on timber since there are plenty of oil palms in Malaysia's plantation and have high potential to be future composite boards through their residues. Agricultural fibre, especially oil palm fronds used, can be easily crushed and may be used as substitutes for wood-based raw materials. Explore the use of local natural fibre for composite boards and has an excellent potential to compete with other commercial products. The oil palm fronds are usually left rotting between the rows of palm trees. This method served mainly for soil conservation, erosion control, and ultimately the long-term benefit of nutrient recycling [1, 2].

Many studies on the oil palm fronds showed the potential of utilizing this agricultural residue for several types of value-added products. The value-added products are the manufacturing of pulp and paper, animal feed, and fibreboard in the wood-based industry [3–5]. Intensive research work is ongoing using various technologies to convert oil palm fronds for the manufacture of commercially viable composite board products [6–9]. They were chosen because they are residues and abundant in oil palm plantations. It will optimize the uses of biomass by-products, especially from oil palm fronds. Moreover, it gives better understanding and knowledge of non-wood material for future sustainability.

Currently, there is a limited supply of timber in the wood industry to cater to permanent structural use. This issue is due to poor and inconsistent quality, high and fluctuating costs associated with the supply shortage [10]. Due to the depletion of forest resources, there is a shortage of wood suppliers required by the industry. It is not surprising that alternative bio-materials are getting popular in reducing the over-dependence on the local timber industry. Furthermore, previous researchers worldwide seem to focus more on woody plants, and they paid less attention to nonwoody plants. For some reason, there is a need to expand the knowledge to nonwood properties.

Additionally, the use of these oil palm fronds still lacks its contribution to commercializing [11]. Simultaneously, by maximizing the knowledge, especially on oil palm crops, the world will know that Malaysia is taking seriously in minimizing the effect of agricultural residues on the environment and reducing the consumption of natural forest. It should be done as Malaysia complained about foreign countries because of its mass production of palm oil, and Malaysia is known as the largest producer in the palm oil industry. Novel technologies with improved efficiencies and reduced environmental impacts need to be established timely to utilize a large amount of waste [12].
