Next-gen bamboo plastic redefines sustainability

In an October 2025 study in Nature Communications, titled ‘High-strength, multi-mode processable bamboo molecular bioplastic enabled by solvent-shaping regulation,’ researchers from Northeast Forestry University and the Shenyang University of Chemical Technology reported the development of ‘BM-plastic’ (bamboo molecular plastic). 

This new material is engineered to rival the performance of traditional oil-based plastics, offering a high-performance, sustainable alternative that is essential for a circular economy. The authors and researchers, Hongying Tang, Zhihan Tong, Rui Zhang, Xiaona Li, Suqing Zeng, Dawei Zhao, and Haipeng Yu, emphasise that the environmental crises caused by reliance on fossil-fuel plastics necessitate alternatives that combine circularity with high performance.

Previous efforts to create bamboo-based plastics resulted in composites with limited biodegradability and insufficient strength for industrial use. The Chinese team, led by Haipeng Yu and Dawei Zhao, bypassed these limitations by focusing on molecular re-engineering. Their process utilises a deep eutectic solvent (comprising zinc chloride and formic acid) and ethanol to dismantle and then reconstruct the hydrogen-bond network of bamboo cellulose. This process creates a new, dense molecular structure that translates directly into exceptional mechanical strength and resilience.

The BM-plastic demonstrated a tensile strength of 110-megapascals (MPa) — approximately double that of widely used plastics like PLA and HIPS. The BM-plastic matched and surpassed the thermal and mechanical stability of most commercial plastics. It withstands extreme conditions, including heat above 180°C and extended exposure to freezing temperatures and high humidity, making it suitable for demanding applications in the automotive and electronics sectors where industrial polymers like ABS are currently used.

The material’s sustainability credentials are compelling: it degrades completely in soil within 50 days, and it retains 90% of its original strength after being recycled, confirming its potential for a closed-loop system. Furthermore, using fast-growing bamboo provides an abundant raw material that avoids the ethical and sustainability issues associated with food-crop competition often faced by starch-based bioplastics.

Economically, the new material is competitive. A techno-economic analysis estimated production costs at approximately USD 2,300 per ton, comparable to both fossil-fuel and other bio-based plastics. This cost efficiency is achieved partly through the high recovery and reuse rate of the chemical solvents employed in the process.

While this technology is not an immediate fix to replace all plastics at scale, its superior strength positions it well to displace fossil-fuel plastics in long-lasting, high-value products. This targeted application offers a pathway to decarbonise key industrial sectors where weaker bioplastics have previously failed.

The primary challenge now lies in scaling up from the laboratory to industrial production, which will require significant investment in new infrastructure for solvent recovery and establishing sustainable, large-scale bamboo supply chains. 

This article is based on an article by Nature Communications.