CONTEXT
Worldwide there are about 1100 species of bamboo, from the family Gramineae, the same as cane sugar. It is a versatile plant, used for millennia by man, with a range of advantages - its roots are used as a means of protecting the soil against erosion, the buds and seeds as an excellent and nutritious food, the pulp as raw material for cellulose and alcohol, and the stalk - a bamboo-structural part - on the manufacturing of traditional and tensioned structures for construction, or produced in the form of veneer and plywood for the production of furniture, tools, musical instruments, among others.
Products derived from bamboo are an excellent alternative to similar wood from tree species. Among the features that make it a coveted material, and increasingly seen as an environmentally friendly material, it is worth noting the high rate of natural renewal, sustainable management, abundance and profitability.
OPPORTUNITY
Although the laminated bamboo is growing and dominating the market (approximately 25% of the market for wood flooring in Europe is currently composed of bamboo floors), in Brazil the production of this material is incipient. The vast majority of these products sold in the domestic market is from China, and it has been questioned about the deal with the workers involved in production and how the management of the species is accomplished. In search of profit and high productivity, Chinese factories often give up quality of life of its workers, the quality of material and the way the species is managed.
INNOVATION
Through field trips conducted for research purposes, the Fibra Design has identified an area of Mosso bamboo (species spreading widely used in the production of veneer and plywood), grown organically by a traditional Japanese family in São Paulo, in ideal weather conditions. Treatment of the stems of bamboo, made by the family company in making curtains of high standard, makes no use of chemical inputs, such as traditional borox. Instead, they use the smoking process - a process less impressive - as a way of preparing the raw material.
The Fibra saw this acreage the possibility to test a small production of laminated bamboo plywood and organic, that respect sustainability criteria from the planting and harvesting, processing and production. In this sense, partnered for the supply of raw material, suitable for seasonal harvest.
Through the technical adequacy of Japanese traditional techiniques to the reality of machinery available in Brazil, currently Fibra produces Bamboo plywood and veneer in a small scale. The adhesive used in the production is water based, with Zero VOC emission.