Breathing new life into PH bamboo industry

THE versatility of bamboo has been renowned for centuries. Over 5,000 years ago, bamboo was first used in China to build treehouses. It has since evolved into a material for making furniture and utensils, musical instruments and weapons, and even clothing fabrics.

Today, the increase in new applications for bamboo, more innovative sustainable building and construction concepts, and higher consumer awareness on the benefits of bamboo are driving a huge global market. In 2022, the market was worth $64.45 billion and is expected to reach $94.38 billion from 2023 to 2029.

China is the world’s biggest bamboo exporter, with an annual production of about 40 million tons. The Philippines is the fifth-biggest exporter and wants a bigger piece of the action. What’s holding it back, as far as the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development in concerned, is “the low supply of raw materials, low survival rate for macro propagation, limited technology for shoot production and marketing strategies, high cost of processed products and weak transfer of technology.”

Last week, the Department of Agriculture said it is taking a new tack to reenergize the country’s bamboo industry.

It involves engineered bamboo, the term for composite boards or panels made up of pressed raw bamboo. The boards can be used to make walls, doors, ceilings, floors and a myriad of other house parts.

Engineered bamboo panels are said to be stronger and less prone to warping than solid wood.

Agriculture Undersecretary Deogracias Victor Savellano is confident that engineered bamboo could save the government P400 billion annually through import substitution.

According to the base head of technology, Luis Felipe Lopez, “over 1,200 species of bamboo are abundant across the Philippines, and technology and engineering continue to optimize its use as a reliable and durable construction material.”

One building materials company, the Florida-based Rizome, is confident enough to invest $100 million in an engineered-bamboo manufacturing plant in Cagayan de Oro City.

Rizome Philippines Chairman Luis Lorenzo Jr. said the country imports almost 94 percent of its wood-based construction material. “The focus is bamboo as a reengineered lumber for the construction industry and as biomass and ethanol production.”

The company’s Philippine component buys the bamboo mainly from farmers in Bukidnon, North Cotabato and the Agusan and Surigao provinces.

Lorenzo said the company provided the lamellar wood used in the new passenger terminal of the Mactan Cebu International Airport.

“The beams and all that — we make all of those; we make these bullet-proof. We can make beams as long as you like. No more steel, no more concrete,” he touted.

Researchers at the Department of Science and Technology’s Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DoST-FPRDI) are also excited about the potential of cross-laminated bamboo, or CLB. They said tests made on CLB found that its density, hardness and bending strength are “promising” for load-bearing walls, floors and ceilings.

Dr. Rico Cabangon, DoST-FPRDI deputy director, said that with the uptick in local housing demand, “there is space for CLB in the Philippine building industry, especially in prefabricated housing.”

It also holds export potential, Cabangon said. “In the US alone, the demand for prefab houses is expected to reach 145,000 units next year.”

Made from a fast-growing, renewable resource, CLB can help provide jobs to local bamboo farmers and other players in the bamboo industry.

If the Philippines hopes to make it big in the global bamboo market, the government must launch capacity-building activities to support the local bamboo industry.

“If you want to be the main player in the global trade of $60 billion annually, the government should take the lead and focus on it, like other agricultural commodities like coffee and cacao,” suggests Edgardo Manda, president of the Philippine Bamboo Foundation Inc.

Manda said the renewed enthusiasm for bamboo is mainly fueled by the private sector. “What is happening is ‘token involvement.’ What we really need is a national program,” he said.

The government could start by considering policies that incorporate bamboo into the National Building Code or National Structural Code.

Fast-tracking the passage of House Bill 9144, or “An Act Integrating Bamboo as a Sustainable Material for the Built Environment,” is also worth studying.