At this year's Fair for Trade in Services, various bamboo and rattan products in the International Bamboo and Rattan Organization exhibition hall attracted the attention of many visitors, including bamboo bicycles, bamboo soccer balls, bamboo tableware, and bamboo electronic scales. Innovative product design and diverse application scenarios are expanding people's imagination space, demonstrating the rich possibilities of using bamboo instead of plastic.

Currently, white pollution is becoming a prominent threat to the global environment, and finding alternative plastic materials has become an urgent issue. Bamboo, as a fast-growing and biodegradable biomass material, has outstanding carbon sequestration ability and is a good substitute. Promoting the use of bamboo instead of plastic can not only reduce plastic usage and pollution from the source, but also promote high-quality development of the bamboo industry and lay a solid foundation for green development.

China is an important advocate and practitioner of "replacing plastic with bamboo". From jointly launching the "Bamboo for Plastic" initiative with the International Bamboo and Vine Organization to jointly releasing the "Bamboo for Plastic" Global Action Plan (2023-2030), China has been focusing on promoting "Bamboo for Plastic". Not long ago, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments issued the "Three Year Action Plan to Accelerate the Development of" Replacing Plastics with Bamboo ", proposing new development goals: by 2025, the" Replacing Plastics with Bamboo "industrial system will be preliminarily established. The industrialization of "replacing plastic with bamboo" has accelerated, demonstrating China's determination to promote green development and bringing new market opportunities.

China is a country with abundant bamboo resources, with an annual production of about 150 million tons of bamboo. The development of the "bamboo replacing plastic" industry has a unique resource advantage. From daily necessities to industrial products and then to building materials, China in the new era is constantly exploring the industrialization path of "replacing plastic with bamboo", and has developed tens of thousands of bamboo substitute products, making good examples. However, due to factors such as harvesting costs, technological equipment, and market acceptance, the development of the "bamboo instead of plastic" industry still faces significant challenges. Only by achieving new breakthroughs in product quality, product types, industry scale, and comprehensive benefits can we continuously increase the market share of "bamboo instead of plastic" products, lead a new trend of green consumption, and make greater contributions to the green and low-carbon transformation.

To better promote the industrial development of "replacing plastic with bamboo", we need to seize two ends: production and consumption. Currently, the cost of using bamboo instead of plastic products is higher than that of plastic products, which is a key factor restricting the development of the industry. From the perspective of production, the vast majority of enterprises engaged in the production and processing of bamboo products are small and medium-sized enterprises. The automation level of bamboo product processing is low and has not yet formed economies of scale. We need to provide policy support in areas such as land and funding, guide relevant enterprises to carry out technological breakthroughs, and continuously improve the level of industrial scale and intensification. From a consumer perspective, by including "bamboo for plastic" products in the scope of government procurement support, we can cultivate and strengthen the bamboo product consumption market, and promote green lifestyles to become a trend and trend. Reducing production costs and maturing products can further accelerate the industrialization process of "replacing plastic with bamboo" and win the favor of more consumers.

The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed that "promoting green and low-carbon economic and social development is a key link to achieving high-quality development." Promoting the use of bamboo instead of plastic is in line with China's national conditions and future direction, and has great development potential. In the initial stage of its development, it is necessary to make long-term industrial planning, target key industries and fields, accelerate the construction of an industrial system, and "replace plastic with bamboo" will surely usher in better commercialization prospects, bringing people more high-quality and cost-effective green products. (Gu Zhongyang)