Forests are vital to human survival, yet they face significant threats from deforestation and degradation. Between 1990 and 2016, the world lost approximately 1.3 million square kilometers of forest. Sustainable development has become crucial, and bamboo is emerging as a favored alternative to traditional materials, supporting both public interest and sustainable practices.
EU Deforestation Regulation
1.Background
On 16 May 2023, the European Union adopted the “EU Deforestation Regulation” (EUDR), which sets out the legal requirements for "zero deforestation" in the production of seven commodities and their derivatives imported and exported by EU entities, including timber, cocoa and soybeans.The regulation will come into effect on 30 December 2024.
As an important part of the European Green Deal, the implementation of the EUDR primarily aims to address climate change and halt biodiversity loss by reducing deforestation and forest degradation.
2.Objectives
As outlined by the European Commission, the EU Deforestation Regulation has three primary objectives:
● Ensure products that contribute to global deforestation and forest degradation are unavailable on the EU market.
● Retain forests that store CO2 and shrink the EU’s carbon footprint by reducing carbon emissions generated from the production and consumption of certain commodities.
● Address deforestation and forest degradation caused by agricultural expansion to produce certain commodities.
3.Main points
Firstly, EUDR provides a clearer definition of “zero deforestation”, which is used as the basis for other important provisions in the bill.
On the one hand, the regulation provides clear definitions of important concepts such as “forest” and "deforestation" in regulation 2 and maintains the consistency of these basic concepts with the relevant definitions of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (UNFAO) to minimise misunderstandings. The basic concepts are aligned with the relevant definitions of the UNFAO in order to minimise misunderstandings.
On the other hand, the regulation is based on UNFAO's regulatory framework and content, and further defines important concepts such as "zero deforestation", "forest degradation" and "agricultural cultivation", which were missing in the regulation, in order to guarantee the transparency of the implementation of the regulation.
Secondly, the EUDR clearly outlines the scope of products to which the regulation applies, the types of subjects, and the responsibilities of the relevant subjects. In addition to the seven categories of commodities such as timber, cattle, and soy, the EUDR clearly lists in an appendix the categories and customs codes of all derivatives of the relevant commodities covered (e.g., coffee, palm oil, pulp, etc.) to facilitate tracking.
In terms of the scope of applicable subjects, the EUDR continues the distinguishes between operators and traders of the products covered in the previous EUTR. The business owners include both importers, producers and exporters of the products in the EU, and the traders include distributors of the products in the EU.
With regard to the responsibility of the subject, EUDR divides the responsibility of the subject in a way that is both uniform and differentiated.
Thirdly, the EUDR establishes a risk benchmarking system that assesses the risk levels of countries exporting commodities or products covered by the regulation using a three-tier rating system of “high risk,” “standard risk,” and “low risk.” It also sets differentiated due diligence requirements for products exported from countries in different risk tiers.
Fourthly, the EUDR establishes a relatively comprehensive enforcement process and imposes relatively strict penalties. In terms of the enforcement process, the EUDR sets out in detail the regulatory responsibilities of each Member State's regulatory authority in relation to business and trading entities within its territory to ensure the implementation of the regulation.
EUDR also establishes a complaint mechanism for other private sector subjects, allowing them to complain about non-compliance.
In terms of the penalty mechanism, the regulation outlines differentiated penalties for varying degrees of non-compliance by covered entities. These penalties include fines (up to 4% of the entity's revenue in the EU), and temporary bans on trading the relevant products within the EU.
Sustainable potential of bamboo
Today, the world's forests are facing serious threats from deforestation and forest degradation. EU information shows that 1.3 million square kilometres of forest area were lost between 1990 and 2016.
Therefore, sustainable development is our best option. Bamboo is gradually becoming one of the alternatives to traditional materials due to its unique advantages, which are favoured by the public and are a key driver for sustainable development.
Leading global companies have embraced bamboo as a key strategy to drive product innovation and achieve sustainability goals.
1.IKEA
Swedish home furnishing giant IKEA, renowned worldwide for its eco-friendly philosophy, uses bamboo as a raw material for some of its furniture products, such as bamboo chairs and storage cabinets, which not only maintains IKEA's consistent simple design style, but also gives the products the dual characteristics of nature and durability.
2.Lock&Lock
South Korea's preservation box brand Lekue Lekue (Lock & Lock), but also the concept of environmental protection into the details of the product, part of the series of products of its lid using bamboo texture, not only to ensure the sealing performance, but also reduce the use of plastic.
3.EKOBO
The EKOBO brand from France, specialising in baby products and home living, is constantly researching its products and introducing other sustainable materials. In 2010, EKOBO developed the iconic BIOBU® bamboo fibre eco-composite, further promoting the sustainability of bamboo tableware.
Innovative Solutions from altPlus
altPlus also focuses on the sustainable development of bamboo fibre tableware. Our products not only demonstrate the design and functional versatility of bamboo, but also reflect our corporate commitment to social responsibility.
altPlus' Purbam™ and BaMatrix™ brands can replace many tableware items that use single-use plastics or wood, contributing to forest conservation programmes.
1.Purbam™
Pulp molded tableware is one of the most popular biodegradable tableware in the market. Purbam™ uses pure bamboo biomaterials and can be composed with sugarcane and tapioca as needed. Purbam™ pulp-molded tableware is both cost-effective and eco-friendly, with excellent physical properties by high standards of processing and manufacturing.
Food Container
95% Bamboo fiber + 5% Tapioca
Food Container
95% Bamboo fiber + 5% Tapioca
Cutlery-100%Bamboo fiber
2.BaMatrix™
BaMatrix™ uses scalable fiber extraction and unique compounding technology which enables higher bamboo fiber ratios, up to 40%. BaMatrix™ tableware is durable, high-performance and recyclable.
Composition: bamboo blend
Both Purbam™ and BaMatrix™ tableware meet the stringent health and safety standards set by national and international organizations and can be used in different food categories as necessary.
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