By Coral Rose
BAMBOO IS NOT A FIBER.
BAMBOO IS NOT LEGALLY RECOGNIZED AS A FIBER BY THE FTC.
Bamboo is not,
in and of itself, recognized as a fiber in the US or EU. What is referred to as bamboo fiber in the
market is actually viscose/rayon.
All viscose or
rayon fiber from Bamboo (as a source)
that is imported into the US must carry a legal fiber content label declaration
of viscose or rayon. All bamboo imported into the EU must use of the legal
content declaration viscose; the EU does not permit the use of the word rayon.
According to the FTC, you can label your garments; "Rayon from Bamboo"
As one
of the fastest growing plants in the world, bamboo grows to its maximum height
in about 3 months and reaches maturity in 3-4 years. It spreads rapidly
across large areas. Because of relatively
quick growing time and the ability to be grown without fertilizers or
pesticides, the fiber is currently being marketed as an ‘eco-green-sustainable
fiber.’ There are also claims that viscose or rayon from bamboo is
biodegradable and anti-microbial. There are potential risks associated with
using bamboo as a polymer source for rayon since there is currently a lack of
transparency in the supply chain. It is not always clear which type of bamboo
is used for fiber, where it is grown, how it is cultivated, harvested etc. To
date there are no known organic certification of bamboo.
The
process to make viscose or rayon fiber from bamboo is the same process used to produce
viscose/ rayon from any other plant source. The cellulose is extracted from the
bamboo, and then the cellulose is mixed with chemicals to convert the plant
pulp into textile quality fiber. This process can be very polluting unless it
is carefully controlled, which can be influenced by the age and condition of
the equipment as well as whether there is any by-product recycling or effluent
treatment.
There is only one case of
manufacturing a regenerated cellulose fiber-where the chemicals used in the
process are completely recycled with a
recovery rate of 99.5%, this is known as a closed loop system. The fiber made
using this closed looped process is Lenzings TENCEL ® Lyocell. More accurately
described Lyocell is a solvent spun fiber in which the cellulose is directly
dissolved keeping the cellulose much closer to that found in nature. TENCEL®
Lyocell, also carries the Oeko Tex 100
certification and FSC certification ( http://www.fsc.org/en/) Currently organic standards are not in place
for certifying regenerated fibers using trees as a source e.g. Eucalyptus, or
Beechwood. FSC certification for TENCEL®
Lyocell is for the forest and for the pulp, they also have been awarded the
European-Eco flower label. (www.Lenzing.com)
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