Growing demand for eco-friendly materials to benefit abaca industry

CEBU, Philippines - The growing demand for environment-friendly materials in the global market will provide a huge opportunity for the country’s Abaca industry to post tremendous growth in the next few years.

A report from the Fiber Industry Development Authority (FIDA) revealed that the Philippine abaca industry faces brighter market prospects specifically in the export market, while consumers and manufacturers around the world are shifting to the use of abaca products to replace synthetic and other non-biodegradable raw materials.

Abaca as a renewable resource can be an excellent part of the overall solution to climate change, as the plant absorbs more carbon dioxide than its emission and is hundred percent biodegradable that cannot harm the environment, it said.

With this, FIDA report said that eco-friendly materials like abaca are utilized by industries for products like home furnishings and housewares, fashion and its accessories, packaging of food, apparels and other items.   

The development of new end-use for abaca fiber in composite applications for the automotive industry particularly in Germany contributed to boost the demand for Philippine fiber.

Instead of glass fiber, the use of abaca fiber brought primary energy savings of 60 percent, thus significantly reducing carbon dioxide emission.

Other car manufacturing companies especially in the European Union are expected to use natural fibers as material for their car parts in compliance with the end-of-life-vehicle regulation of the European Parliament.

Such regulation requires these firms to design and make their car components easier to recycle and safer to dispose at the end of life of their vehicle.

As composite material, abaca fiber has potentials in boat/shipbuilding industries, aeronautics as well as in construction business especially in high-rise building.

With the stricter policies against dumping of synthetic fishnets and cordage materials in open sea as enforced by most European nations, users are returning to the use of natural biodegradable materials like abaca fiber.

Likewise, Japan continues to import abaca pulp from the Philippines for the manufacture of its currency notes.

Other applications of abaca pulp in Japan include capacitor and insulation papers, tea bag, masking tape, paper cloth, stencil paper, and filter oil absorbent paper, casings and other specialty paper products.

Japan was the biggest export market for Philippine abaca fiber with shipments reaching 4,276.5 metric tons (MT) in January to November last year. This was followed by the United Kingdom with purchases reaching 3,811.3 MT; and China, 1,880.6 MT.

FIDA report likewise revealed that one of the biggest tea-drinking populations in the world, has been continuously expanding its imports of abaca pulp from the Philippines for the manufacture of tea bags.

Reports also indicated that China may need 20,000 MT of abaca pulp per year to support the requirement of its waste paper recycling plants and for other uses.

The country's total abaca fiber exports was projected to reach 12,300 MT in 2011 from last year's 11,175 MT estimate.

In Cebu, export players had started their efforts in pursuing “green” operation to take advantage of the growing environment-conscious consumers around the world.

Last year, the European Commission announced it’s released of 1-million Euros or approximately P65 million worth of grant for Cebu-based small and medium enterprise (SMEs) players, specifically exporters.

The program was implemented through the three-year SMART-Cebu (SMEs Environment Accountability, Responsibility, and Transparency) program.