The National Development and Reform Commission issued a document to "replace plastic with bamboo" to run out of "acceleration"

In the past few days, "replacing plastic with bamboo" has attracted attention in two important expos.

One is the third phase of the 134th China Import and Export Fair (referred to as the Canton Fair) being held in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. Many bamboo and wood products manufacturers from Guangdong, Hunan and other places will bring their products to the site for exhibition, and continue to explore overseas markets. Guangzhou customs officers also "sent education to the door", took the initiative to collect and sort out the latest foreign laws, regulations, standards and quarantine requirements of bamboo, wood and grass products, went to the booth of bamboo and wood products enterprises at the Canton Fair to preach customs policies, and provided relevant policy consulting services.

The other is the 16th Yiwu Forest Expo in Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province. For the first time, the exhibition set up a special exhibition area for bamboo products with "bamboo instead of plastic", and concentrated the display and promotion of new products such as reconstituted bamboo, bamboo microfilament composite packaging materials, carbonized bamboo braided base composite pipes, and bamboo tableware, attracting 130 enterprises to participate in the exhibition. The organizers hope that through the exhibition of "bamboo instead of plastic" bamboo products, the people's conscious recognition and consumption habits of "bamboo instead of plastic" products will be enhanced, plastic pollution will be reduced, and the green and healthy life concept of "bamboo instead of plastic" will be formed.

Why has bamboo become a substitute for plastics?

On the one hand, bamboo is a fast-growing and degradable biomass material, and in the production process of bamboo products, the carbon emission is much lower than that of plastic, which is in line with the development trend of green and low-carbon. On the other hand, China is known as the "Kingdom of Bamboo", bamboo resources, bamboo forest area, bamboo accumulation, bamboo product categories and output are ranked first in the world, bamboo culture has a long history, bamboo application in all aspects of people's production and life, with a good foundation and favorable conditions for the development of bamboo industry. By the end of 2022, China's existing bamboo forest area was 129 million mu, the total output value of the bamboo industry reached 415.3 billion yuan, and the total number of employees reached 17.42 million.

In 2022, the Chinese government and INBAR joined hands to implement the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and jointly launched the "Bamboo instead of Plastic" initiative, which established five tasks, including formulating support policies for "replacing plastic with bamboo", promoting scientific and technological innovation on "replacing plastic with bamboo", encouraging scientific research on "replacing plastic with bamboo", promoting the marketing of "replacing plastic with bamboo", and increasing public publicity on "replacing plastic with bamboo".

On an autumn afternoon, leaning on a bamboo chair, a small bamboo table is placed next to the chair, and the bamboo cup on the table is filled with hot drinks, and a bamboo straw is embedded in it. Do you want to experience such a life with bamboo?

In fact, there are many plastic products that can be replaced by bamboo products. The "Action Plan" is clearly stated in the annex - "Bamboo instead of Plastic" Main Products List (2023 Edition) (hereinafter referred to as the "List") that the list includes 17 products in three categories: daily necessities, industrial production, and building materials.

Among them, the public has more contact with 7 kinds of products in daily life. "Bamboo shell" replaces the plastic shell of related electronic products and clothing decoration products with bamboo shell, such as bamboo mobile phone case, bamboo audio shell, bamboo buttons, etc.; "Bamboo stationery" includes bamboo pen holder, bamboo shell pen, bamboo mouse, bamboo keyboard and other bamboo stationery and office supplies; "Bamboo toiletry" includes bamboo toothbrushes, bamboo cups and other bamboo toiletries; "Bamboo furniture" includes bamboo lamps, bamboo furniture, bamboo desks and chairs, bamboo storage boxes, bamboo shoe racks and other products; "disposable bamboo tableware" with bamboo straws, bamboo fiber lunch boxes, bamboo chopsticks, bamboo knives, forks and spoons, Disposable bamboo tableware such as bamboo toothpicks and bamboo stirring rods replace disposable plastic products used in the catering industry, "durable bamboo tableware" includes bamboo bowls, bamboo plates, bamboo cutting boards, bamboo gaps and other bamboo tableware, and "bamboo degradable bags" are used to replace plastic bags used in daily life.

Bamboo straws

In addition, in industrial production, "bamboo packaging materials" can also be used to replace the corresponding plastic products with packaging bags, packaging boxes, bamboo trays, bamboo fiber packaging buffer materials, bamboo baskets, etc. prepared by different bamboo units.

At present, bamboo-based fiber composite materials have begun to replace related plastic products in decoration and furniture, bamboo winding pipe gallery and other products have been popularized and applied in some municipal projects, and bamboo container floors are waterproof and not easy to break, and have gradually become the new favorite of the industry. It can be said that with the blessing of imagination and the empowerment of technology, bamboo is creating more possibilities to replace plastics.

At the same time, the "directory" also pointed out that the main products of "bamboo instead of plastic" will be dynamically adjusted according to the development of "bamboo instead of plastic", and all regions and departments can formulate local and industry directories according to the actual situation.

The Action Plan not only encourages the above-mentioned product substitution actions, but also encourages all localities to explore more practical and easy-to-use alternative scenarios.

Opening an e-commerce platform, the reporter noticed that on the evaluation page of bamboo products such as bamboo cups and bamboo cutting boards, buyers had mixed reviews of the products. Some people praised it as "fragrant" and "textured", while others were indignant, criticizing the product for being "easy to mold" and "cracking".

Obviously, the relatively backward technology and equipment is a problem that has to be overcome in the development of the "bamboo instead of plastic" industry.

In this regard, the "Action Plan" puts the "scientific and technological innovation and promotion action" at the top of the seven key actions, requiring to strengthen the in-depth research and development of "bamboo instead of plastic" products and make up for the shortcomings of natural material performance. The document pointed out that the organization of "bamboo instead of plastic" related scientific research, guide the cultivation of relevant national key laboratories construction, and break through a number of key common technologies and major equipment. Support enterprises to increase investment in core technology research and transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and enrich new technologies and products of "bamboo instead of plastic".

At present, "bamboo instead of plastic" is still facing problems such as small industrial scale, low output and high cost. The seven key actions in the "Action Plan" also plan the industrial ecological cultivation action, the production and marketing docking promotion action, the key scene substitution action, the characteristic area leading action, the social publicity and guidance action and the international exchange and cooperation action.

In order to speed up the development of "bamboo instead of plastic", China will also increase policy support. For example, the development, production and application of "bamboo instead of plastic" products will be included in the "Guiding Catalogue for Industrial Structure Adjustment" as an encouraged project; improve the financial service mechanism, guide financial institutions to develop financial products in line with the characteristics of the "bamboo instead of plastic" industry, include "bamboo instead of plastic" products in the scope of government procurement support, increase government procurement efforts, and encourage public institutions to actively purchase related "bamboo instead of plastic" products.

春江水暖鸭先知。事实上，不少嗅觉敏锐的上市企业早已开始布局“以竹代塑”产业。据媒体报道，上市公司裕同科技、山鹰国际和大胜达，几年前就开始以竹浆等为原料生产环保餐具，替代传统塑料餐具，而上市企业龙竹科技也不断推出Bamboo straws、竹青衣架、竹承重支架等新品，今年上半年上述系列产品在手订单约5300万元。

On the new track of "replacing plastic with bamboo", we have already started and are accelerating.