Maple Growers Challenge Bamboo Green Claims

Deerfield, IL, May 12, 2008--The Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association is urging the bamboo industry to back up its “green” claims regarding bamboo resource management and manufacturing practices and create a system regarding practices along the lines of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) for Northern hard maple.

The trade association said there is 82 percent more hardwood growing today than in 1952, approximately 9.5 billion cubic feet of timber is added each year to the hardwood forest industry and more than 200 million acres of forestland in the U.S. are certified as sustainable.

Unlike bamboo, Northern hard maple stands are seldom clear cut and are not tilled to remove undergrowth; therefore erosion is seldom a concern as it is with bamboo growing practices.

Although wood consumption accounts for almost half of the total annual industrial raw material tonnage, lumber and wood product manufacturing processes account for only 4 percent of energy consumed by industrial raw material manufacturers. Also, unlike bamboo, solid maple flooring does not incorporate the use of resins (urea-formaldehyde) nor are growing stands enhanced by chemicals such as pesticides, weed killers and fertilizers.

The association said that bamboo is planted and grown at the expense of other diversified species, even to the extent of clear cutting rain forests to expand growing areas. It is not uncommon to cut down existing trees and replace them with bamboo

It said that because there is no organization governing bamboo, such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), no one can ensure bamboo has been harvested in a sustainable fashion. Most bamboo flooring sold in North America is produced in the southern Chinese province of Hunan, an area known as “the bamboo sea,” where the bamboo forests are owned by the government, and individuals or companies can obtain contracts to harvest with little or no control over environmental and worker safety issues.

Also, it said there is no Fair Trade Certification ensuring workers have appropriate working conditions and wages. Processing of bamboo is typically done in coal fired plants, which emit significant pollution. Manufacturers of bamboo flooring handle potentially toxic chemicals, including urea-formaldehyde binders and finishes, produce much solid waste, and run equipment that emits combustion gases. The fossil fuels required to move bamboo products around the world constitutes an environmental strike against bamboo, leaving a significant carbon footprint.