Bamboo: A Nature-Based Solution To Plastics

Plastics are integral to our modern lives, used in everything from packaging and construction to textiles and consumer goods. They are cheap and versatile, but come with significant environmental costs. Annual global plastic production has surged in the 21st century, increasing between 2000 and 2019 from 234 million tonnes to 460 million tonnes. As of 2019, only 19% of that was incinerated – and only 9% was recycled. Most is either disposed of in landfills or released into the environment. Plastics then leach harmful chemicals, contributing to the “triple planetary crisis” of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

Plastics also release greenhouse gases throughout their life cycle. These emissions are projected to account for 15% of our total global carbon budget by 2050. Meanwhile, terrestrial and marine ecosystems are being overloaded with mountains of plastic waste. An estimated 19-23 million tonnes entered aquatic ecosystems in 2016 alone.

Efforts are being made to address this crisis. The UN’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution is working to develop a legally binding treaty on plastic pollution. Regional and national measures have also been launched, like the European Union’s 2021 ban on common single-use plastics, as well as plastic bag regulations in at least 127 countries. Researchers are also exploring low-carbon, bio-based materials known as “bioplastics”, to replace plastics derived from fossil fuels. However, challenges remain regarding the durability, non-degradable components and costs associated with bioplastics.

Bamboo is one such bioplastic variant that shows promise. Crucially, bamboo can replace many single-use plastics, including straws, cutlery, cups, bowls and food packaging. These items are among the most emissions-intensive and difficult-to-recycle items. Single-use items also represent between 30% and 50% of all plastic use.

“As a nature-based solution, bamboo offers diversified options for replacing plastics,” says my colleague, Li Yanxia, senior programme officer at the International Bamboo and Rattan Organization (INBAR).

An intergovernmental organisation with 51 member states, INBAR is headquartered in China. It harnesses modern research methods and cutting-edge technologies to unlock new pathways for innovative value addition.

‘Green gold’

China has been working with bamboo for 7,000 years. Traditionally, the plant has been used for arrowheads, baskets, pens, paper, scrolls, shoes, food and building materials. Nowadays, with 7.5 million hectares of bamboo forest at its disposal, China’s highly advanced manufacturing and processing industries are worth billions: China’s total bamboo output value for 2023 was CNY 541 billion (USD 75 billion). This has earned bamboo the name “green gold” internationally for its ability to drive sustainable economic development.

“In China, research and development and industrial applications of bamboo-based plastics have witnessed rapid growth in recent years,” says Changhua Fang, a professor at The International Centre for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR’s technical research sister organisation). “Especially in the fields of daily necessities and catering supplies, many new products have been developed and industrialised.” These include bamboo bicycles, phone cases, wind turbine blades and structural components.

What sets bamboo apart from other materials is its ability to synergistically tackle global challenges like climate change mitigation, poverty alleviation, the environment’s conservation, construction resilience and now, plastic pollution.

In addition to its ability to replace single-use plastics, the plant can potentially act as a powerful carbon sink. And as a proven tool in land restoration, bamboo can flourish on marginal, degraded lands with minimal agricultural inputs. It also grows rapidly and binds soils thanks to the extensive networks of rhizomes (thick, underground stems) it establishes. Recently, bamboo made the news following flooding in Pakistan and earthquakes in Ecuador, because it is a strong, low-cost and resilient material for post-disaster reconstruction efforts.

Bamboo as a substitute for plastic

In the past few years, China has established several initiatives and plans to realise bamboo’s potential as an alternative to plastic.

In 2022, INBAR collaborated with the Chinese government to launch the Bamboo as a Substitute for Plastic (BASP) Initiative. It aims to leverage bamboo to reduce plastic pollution, address climate change and accelerate achievement of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. BASP’s ultimate objective is to foster new global paradigms and modes across the entire chain of bamboo products, which can replace plastics.

The Chinese government has undertaken several supportive measures to facilitate the implementation of BASP.

In 2023, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration of China and INBAR co-launched the First International Symposium on Bamboo as a Substitute for Plastic. As part of the event, BASP’s global action plan was released. It is the main framework for coordinating and scaling up international BASP action, and is complemented by a domestic action plan for China.

The Chinese plan targets three main plastic-substitution areas: daily necessities, industrial products, and architecture and building materials. By 2025, it also aims to: establish a preliminary bamboo-for-plastic industrial system; increase the comprehensive added value of major bamboo-for-plastic products by more than 20% in relation to 2022 figures; and improve the comprehensive utilisation rate of bamboo materials by 20%.

Meeting this goal will require a high degree of multi-sectoral coordination and robust governmental support. Li believes this ambitious goal is achievable under the right conditions. It requires “joint efforts from all stakeholders and actors based on their capabilities, knowledge and technologies to pursue and fulfil its objectives of beating plastic pollution”.

One example of this in practice can be seen in eastern China’s county of Anji, Zhejiang province. Despite being home to only 1.8% of national bamboo forest resources, Anji is responsible for 10% of total national production value. The area features a sustainable bamboo production and processing hub, integrating ecotourism, food and biofuel businesses. It highlights how strong industry coordination, government support and public participation can spur the regional development of bamboo over traditional plastics.

With the right enabling policies and business frameworks, similar clusters could emerge in other bamboo-rich regions of the Global South. “The bamboo-based plastic substitute industries of other countries are still in their infancy, and can learn from China’s experience,” says Fang.

For these countries, establishing a national strategy is a top priority. This will align the sector’s stakeholders and ensure cohesive growth. Within their specific contexts, countries should develop national policy that incorporates various tax incentive mechanisms: tax-exemption status for small- and medium-sized enterprises; tax rebates on imported equipment, tools and machinery; and streamlined procedures for importing materials. Such measures will help attract investment and strengthen bamboo’s value chains.

International feasibility of bamboo production chains

In 2023, INBAR spearheaded a key international pilot project to assess bamboo value chains, which is expected to conclude next year. It investigates genes, cultivation, material properties, products and life-cycle assessments across six countries, representing bamboo-rich areas across the tropical and subtropical belts: Vietnam, Malaysia, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Ecuador and Brazil.

Researchers have so far investigated several high-yield bamboo species, including Oxytenanthera abyssinica, Guadua angustifolia (“Kunth”) and Thyrsostachys oliveri (“Gamble”), for growth rate, structural characteristics, gene interactions and more. Additionally, an Oxytenanthera abyssinica cultivation manual has been translated into English, to guide training, disseminate knowledge and grow its presence in Africa. And surveys have been conducted to identify which plastic goods are suitable for substitution. In Ethiopia, which has a national bamboo policy framework, they include window blinds, handbags and packaging film.

Global trade plays a vital role in this initiative, supported by resources like UN Comtrade, a comprehensive database for tracking international trade flows. But before 2017, bamboo was misclassified as timber. This was due to a lack of accurate Harmonised System (HS) codes, which form an international, numerical system for classifying goods and determining tariffs. 2018 marked the first year when the new HS codes were fully implemented, including categories for woven products, building materials and more. This enabled countries to accurately report their bamboo trade.

This new data is highly valuable. It revealed tableware and kitchenware to be the most-traded bamboo commodities, followed by daily use products such as toothpicks. It enables the accurate mapping of international trade flows, which aids decision-makers in identifying the markets they should allocate their resources to for maximum impact. It also serves as a “proof of concept”, with revised figures showing that bamboo commodities were traded at nearly twice the previously estimated dollar amount – jumping from USD 1.7 billion in 2017 to 3.2 billion in 2018. This suggests higher consumer acceptance of bamboo as an eco-friendly product than previously thought, which is critical for shifting public perceptions of the plant.

The large-scale cultivation of bamboo could raise ecological and forestry concerns. The type of management system, selection of species and local biodiversity can all dictate very different outcomes. Generally speaking, bamboo can flourish under agroforestry, silviculture (forest resource management), intercropping and circular economy approaches, which all foster biodiversity and allow for planting other forestry crops. These also deliver extra economic benefits to farmers by diversifying income streams. Since bamboo can grow on suboptimal land, it can preserve local forests and avoid encroaching on native biodiversity. These actions are dependent on selecting non-invasive species and utilising sustainable cultivation techniques.

Going forward

Serious challenges remain, however. For example, many bamboo products are still traded with HS codes for timber headings, such as bamboo charcoal and bamboo flooring. Additionally, for entry into the European Union’s market, which has regulation on deforestation-free imports, bamboo must meet the same requirements and standards as timber. But bamboo is a type of grass and has a completely different growth pattern and management regime to trees. This places an onerous financial burden on bamboo producers.

Reducing tariffs on bamboo products can also make them more competitive with plastic products, which already enjoy lower tariffs.

Actors from public, private and third-sector organisations need to operate in tandem to unlock the financial resources that would help small-to-medium-sized bamboo enterprises. With finance, they could scale up, refine and automate production, design favourable policy frameworks and enabling conditions, and develop product-quality standards. Furthermore, farmers and rural communities need more convenient and affordable linkages with third-party certification systems and training. Meanwhile, public campaigns (executed between the state, civil society and the media) should raise consumer awareness about bamboo’s role in reducing plastic pollution.

Any solution must be transboundary and therefore multilateral in nature to harness the potential of bamboo. With the right initiatives and frameworks, the plant can be the powerhouse the world needs to help confront the challenges of our time.

(Published under Creative Commons from Dialogue Earth. Read the original article here)