Abstract:

With growing concerns over plastic pollution and climate change, disposable plastic straws have become an important focus of environmental protection due to their high consumption, low recyclability, and lack of biodegradability. Bamboo, as a natural, renewable, and fully biodegradable biomass resource, has emerged as a promising alternative to plastic straws owing to its wide availability, rapid growth, strong carbon sequestration capacity, excellent mechanical properties, and low cost. By preserving the natural structure and tissue of bamboo to the greatest extent possible, the development of bamboo drinking straws can not only enable the production of high-performance products, but also maintain low energy consumption and high material utilisation. Drilled bamboo straws and coiled bamboo straws have become relatively mature products and can be manufactured through automated processes. In the development of drilled bamboo straws, several key innovations have been developed, including high-speed automatic drilling machines, bamboo morphology correction and moisture regulation techniques, as well as chip removal and cooling technologies. For coiled bamboo straws, technological advancements such as slice extension, bamboo flattening and thin slicing, and bamboo strip winding techniques have been developed. These innovations effectively address challenges such as low production efficiency, limited automation, and low product yield, thereby significantly reducing manufacturing costs and enhancing the market competitiveness of bamboo drinking straws. In addition, bamboo straws exhibit excellent mechanical strength, wet stability, and biodegradability. The research and development of bamboo straws fully demonstrate the considerable potential of bamboo valorisation, providing essential technical support and practical examples for the “replacing plastic with bamboo” initiative, and promoting the modernisation, standardization, and industrial-scale development of the bamboo processing industry. The international standard for bamboo drinking straws was officially released by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 16830) in early 2025. The standard specifies terms and definitions, product classification, technical requirements, testing methods, inspection rules, packaging and labelling, and transportation and storage of bamboo drinking straws. The issuance of this standard strengthens the competitiveness of the bamboo industry and, more importantly, highlights the important role of bamboo in addressing global plastic pollution, reducing dependence on petroleum resources, and advancing green and low-carbon development.

Key words: bamboo, bamboo drinking straw, replacing plastic with bamboo, ISO standard