Tiles from bamboo stems developed

Bamboo stems as tiles?

Yes, a way has been developed by a government researcher to make veneer out of the base of a bamboo stem, producing tiles that can be used for floors, panels, and table tops.

In his research, Hilario Dolores of the Los Baños-based Department of Science and Technology-Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DOST-FPRDI) bamboo species "bayog," "kauayan tinik," and "kauayan kiling."

The technology is now being used by Asia Rattan, a Pampanga-based furniture exporter that ships 59 table tops made of bamboo veneers to Europe each day.

"The technology is simple," FPRDI Director Florentino O. Tesoro said.

He explained: "We make use of the bottom part of the bamboo culm which is more or less solid and usually left during harvesting. These are cut into 50-centimeter pieces, boiled in water for two hours and paled into veneers using a rotary lathe. The veneers are glued to a plywood using a cold press and left for three days to set."

To date, the technology has won awards in national and regional contests: at the National Investors’ Week last year where it won third prize in the housing and construction category and at the Southern Tagalog Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (STARRDEC) symposium this year where it won second prize in the Technology for Dissemination category.

Optimistic that the technology’s prospects are bright, Dolores emphasized:

"The technology has a lot of plus points. It makes use of the cheap and workable bamboo which thrives in the countryside, can help create jobs or additional sources of income in bamboo giving communities and, as the products are exported, can earn dollars for the country." – Rudy Fernandez