How Jamaica Is Rebuilding Its Economy Using Sustainable Bamboo

How Jamaica Is Rebuilding Its Economy Using Sustainable Bamboo

Share to Linkedin When David Stedeford, a UK-born paper-manufacturer vacationed with his family in Jamaica several years ago, his expert eye quickly noticed the agricultural potential of the land he saw. Little did he know that this recreational trip would later lead him to conceptualize a new manufacturing facility, with the capacity to produce 250, 000 metric tonnes of bamboo pulp annually“” by the end of 2021, Stedeford's company, Bamboo Bioproducts Ltd. (BBP) will break ground on the first Bamboo Pulp mill in the Western Hemisphere. The new BBP facility will occupy the lands of the once famous Frome Sugar Plantation in Jamaica's parish of Westmoreland with pulp that is slated for sale to celebrated multinational brands, which have partnered with the manufacturer in order to meet the industry mandate for 'non-wood pulp fiber' in the production of personal hygiene and tissue products using Bambusa vulgaris or common bamboo, an open-clump type bamboo species, which is endemic to Jamaica and the preferred species for pulp production. Bambusa Vulgaris or Common Bamboo (Photo by Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Following the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling in the 1990's that preferential agreements between the island territories and the European