Key Points
- Material labelled as 'bamboo' in Australia may be better described as 'bamboo-derived.'
- Chemicals are used to break down bamboo fibres, which go through a process to make viscose.
- When broken down, bamboo fibres no longer offer UV protection or anti-microbial properties.
Bamboo fabric has surged in popularity over the past decade with sheets and pillows, nappies and clothing among the products made from the fast-growing plant.
Why are people opting for bamboo? It’s a more sustainable product, better for the environment, right? Well, maybe not.
Textiles experts, including two who have spoken to SBS News, describe the marketing of bamboo fabric in recent years as an exercise in ‘’ and one that has proven lucrative for those who've run with it.
While bamboo does grow quickly and is regenerative, there's a bit more to the story.
Some types of bamboo can grow from a small shoot to a fully grown tree in less than two months. Source: Getty / Auscape/Universal Images Group
The other name for what we call bamboo fabric
Rebecca Van Amber, senior lecturer at RMIT's School of Fashion and Textiles, said Australians have been sold a myth when it came to bamboo and most have bought it.
“You are buying fancy viscose,” she said.
Ms Van Amber said when Australian consumers bought fabric items labelled as ‘bamboo’ they were more often than not purchasing a type of rayon, also known as viscose, created in a process involving highly toxic chemicals.
“Viscose is one of the earliest, what we would call semi-synthetic fibres because even though it is created from cellulose and has a kind of of a natural origin, the way that it is made involves lots of chemical processes,” she said.
Ms Van Amber described the early stage of making viscose as similar to making paper, with wood pulp broken down in liquid, however in the case of the fabric, the liquid is a strong chemical.
“Then you take that pulp and you extrude it through a spinerrette and you're able to make a fibre that can coagulate,” she said.
Ms Van Amber said fabric made from actual bamboo fibres was called bamboo lyocell and much of it was sold by one company who had trademarked a version of it.
She said compared to bamboo viscose, very little lyocell was sold as the process required to manufacture it made it is far more expensive.
Environment and health concerns about chemicals used
Saniyat Islam, also a lecturer at RMIT's School of Fashion and Textiles, told SBS News he believed 99 per cent of what Australians bought thinking it was bamboo was actually bamboo-derived viscose.
He said the chemicals used in the creation of viscose were “a heavy dosage of sulfuric acids, carbon disulphide and sodium hydroxide.
Mr Islam said a lot of the bamboo viscose fabric coming to Australia was made in places such as China, Vietnam and India.
"The traceability and transparency indexes on those countries are not that high, right. So the, like, this closing of information unless until something like Rana Plaza happens, we don't know about those, right?"
Rana Plaza was a garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh which having been built with sub-standard materials, collapsed in 2013, killing more than 1100 workers.
"And there are lots of stories around how carbon disulphide actually can be fatal as well in terms of like the worker's health and its implications on long term health of those using it."
A disconnect between our understanding of textiles
Ms Van Amber said many consumers had been duped into associating what was sold as bamboo fabric in Australian shops, as being environmentally friendly thanks to images of green bamboo shoots and panda bears used in marketing.
Pillows, bed sheets, cloth nappies and clothes are among the items made from bamboo fabric. Source: Getty / Chantalrouthier
"There's just a huge kind of brain drain that happened with the understanding and knowledge around textiles fabrics and materials when all of our manufacturing went offshore."
She said there was very little research done into the area either.
"So I think it's asking a lot of the average consumer who probably doesn't even know the difference between different types of fibres or between a knit and a woven, they don't know the difference between a fibre and a yarn and thread and the complexities and the nuances of manufacturing," Ms Van Amber said.
Mr Islam said the government should ensure higher product labelling standards were met.
"We need proper labelling with valid claims," he said.
Mr Islam said the European Union and the United States had tightened compliance so labelling has to say 'bamboo viscose' rather than 'bamboo.'
He said people selling bamboo viscose in Australia were also claiming the products provided benefits that are associated with actual bamboo such as UV protection or anti-microbial properties.
"People claim that their product's UV protection rating is high or something like that, it is complete green- washing," Mr Islam said.
"This dissolution and regeneration process the bamboo goes through in the acid bath is actually detrimental to the fibre that in the ideal scenario would have had such properties."
A spokesperson from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said they were unable to say how many complaints had been received on related matters but said it was unlawful for a business to make false or misleading claims.
"This includes misrepresentations that a product is of a particular composition, or that a product has a particular attribute," the spokesperson said.
The ACCC recently looked at '' claims made by Australian businesses online and found a high proportion of 'concerning claims' about textiles and garments.
Many factors to consider when it comes to fibres
Ms Van Amber said she was not out to 'demonise' any particular fibre types, each of which she said had their use, she just felt it was important people had an accurate understanding of what they were buying.
She pointed out that, in the overall scheme of things, bamboo viscose could be a better choice in some instances.
"It's not as bad as viscose or rayon that has been produced from old growth forest and we know that is still happening," Ms Van Amber said.
And while bamboo is considered a sustainable crop, it was not without issue.
Similar to , bamboo is grown in a monoculture, where only one species of plant is grown in an area.
"So it doesn't offer the same biodiversity or animal habitat or equal ecological impact that a forest would."
