Bamboo Being Explored as a Substitute for Plastic, Polystyrene

Bamboo is being explored as a possible alternative to the production of plastic and polystyrene containers as the Government embarks on a policy to ban the use of the materials.

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. J.C. Hutchinson, said the Government will be looking closely at the potential of the bamboo sector in filling the gap.

“All that is made from plastic that you can think of can be made from bamboo, so we are going to be looking at it… as an alternative for all the plastic that we are presently using,” Mr. Hutchinson said.

He was addressing a recent Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank.

Starting January 1, 2019, the Government will be imposing a ban on the importation, manufacture, distribution and use of specific categories of plastic packaging materials. These include single-use plastic carrier/shopping bags; expanded polystyrene foam, commonly referred to as polystyrene; and plastic drinking straws.

President of the Bamboo Industry Association of Jamaica, Robert Rainford, said that the upcoming Caribbean International Bamboo Symposium will feature discussions on how bamboo can be used as a substitute for the materials to be banned.

“The symposium is a great opportunity for us to showcase what bamboo can do, and the issue of plastic and polystyrene is timely, because bamboo can be a substitute for all of those. We have done a lot of work in that area, and we are looking forward to making sure that we can fill the gap when the time comes,” he said.

The Caribbean International Bamboo Symposium will be held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston on November 27 and 28, under the theme ‘Bamboo: An Economic High Value Chain Resource for the Caribbean’.

The symposium will be followed by a field visit to bamboo productive enterprises on November 29.