Opinion | Bamboo is a welcome alternative to plastic
Pandas thrive on bamboo, but it may soon help humans live better and more sustainably thanks to a creative project China has initiated to turn the world’s fastest-growing plant into a viable alternative to polluting plastic.
For centuries, the bamboo industry has fashioned what is technically a type of grass into everything from fencing to the scaffolding Hong Kong’s real-life spider-men still scramble across on construction sites today.
More recently, bamboo has been developed into a stand-in for fossil fuel-based plastic, giving rise to biodegradable bags, dinner boxes and straws.
Such products are being made by more than 100 bamboo companies in Anhui, a county in eastern Zhejiang province that is pioneering such efforts.
Authorities are now making good on their repeated promise to go green while fuelling economic growth, launching a three-year action plan to promote the use of bamboo substitutes.
China bamboo-zled? Why the plant hasn’t taken root as plastic alternative
The plan announced on November 7 aims to build an industrial system for developing bamboo resources, deep processing of materials derived from the plants and expanding their use.
Within three years, the nation aims to set up about 10 bases in regions where bamboo is abundant to conduct research, set standards and demonstrate applications. The economic benefits are promising.
Authorities predict the output value of the bamboo industry, about 415 billion yuan (US$58 billion) last year could surpass 1 trillion yuan by 2035.
Mainland China officials started taking steps to reduce plastic consumption in 2008, banning the distribution of free single-use plastic bags in supermarkets and shopping malls and more recently imposing a ban on non-degradable bags, tableware and other items in most hotels.
However, plastic bags remain stubbornly common in wet markets across the country. Even in Anhui, high manufacturing costs and low public acceptance hold back alternatives.
The bamboo industrial system is a welcome approach to moving past such obstacles. The move is also wise for a nation that is a top producer of bamboo as well as plastic waste.
Authorities should be encouraged to do whatever it takes to make sure bamboo alternatives take root and set the world on a faster path to a plastic-free future.
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