FPRDI starts developing standards for e-bamboo
Engineered bamboo may soon become a more popular material for making housing components and furniture here in the Philippines – thanks to FPRDI’s efforts at improving their quality.
Also called “e-bamboo”, engineered bamboo includes a wide range of composite products manufactured by binding together bamboo strips, slats, strands, particles, fibers or veneers with a suitable glue.
E-bamboo is used in different ways, often in applications similar to solid wood. Because it is man-made, it can be designed to meet specific performance requirements. It is also often stronger and less prone to warping than equivalent solid wood products.
To ensure the quality of e-bamboo made in the Philippines, FPRDI started in 2010to develop manufacturing standards for e-bamboo products, especially floor tiles.
Says Project Leader Dr. Marina A. Alipon, “We checked the physicaland mechanical properties of e-bamboomade by various companies and organizations across the country because we wanted to come up with quality standards that we could submit to the Bureau of Product Standards’ Accreditation of Innovative Technologies for Housing (AITECH).We were able to come up with data on the optimal strength requirements for locally made e-bamboo and submitted these to the AITECH for approval. Our goal is for our productsto eventually become competitive in both local and foreign markets.”
Worldwide, e-bamboo is produced primarily in China and sold in North America, Europe, Japan and Korea. Local production is very minimal, hampered by varied factors including the lack of raw materials.
However, according to FPRDI’s Director Romulo T. Aggangan, “The present scenario may look bleak, butthe future certainly looks bright for the country’s bamboo (and therefore e-bamboo) industry - especiallywith all the attention it received last year from the national government.
“Executive Order No. 879created the Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council which is tasked to push for a robust and sustainable bamboo sectornationwide,with the help of other government agencies and the private sector.
Dir. Aggangan adds, “Our policy makers have finally seen the potential ofbamboo enterprises asengines for economic growth, especially in the rural areas. The world market for bamboo products amounted to US $12 billion in 2012 and is expected to rise by US $20 billion in 2015.
“One of the government’s flagship projects, the National Greening Program, has listed bamboo among its priority reforestation crops. Likewise, Executive Order No. 879 has directed the Department of Education to use bamboo in at least 25% of the annual school desks and other furniture requirements of all publicschools nationwide. That’s a big market for our bamboo producers, and for e-bamboo manufacturers.” (Rizalina K. Araral, 26 February 2013)#
