Eva-last Sustainable Solutions
Saving forests and reducing waste
The Amazon and Congo rainforests, two of the world’s largest carbon storage areas, are under severe threat due to unsustainable deforestation. Even legal logging is pushing these vital ecosystems towards collapse. The urgency to adopt alternative construction materials that reduce the demand for natural timber has never been clearer. A 30-year study published in Forest Ecology and Management in 2021 highlighted that Brazil’s forest concessions can only support one harvest cycle. To make logging in the Amazon sustainable, it would need to operate at just 2% of the current rate. Similarly, the Congo forest, which holds one-third more carbon per hectare than the Amazon, is rapidly losing its biodiversity to logging, commercial hunting, and slash-and-burn agriculture.
Globally, legal and illegal logging poses a major challenge. In the US, environmental groups are suing the government over old-growth forest logging, and Australia’s Beerwah State Forest faces local opposition to logging concessions. The Solomon Islands are also at risk, logging at nearly 20 times the sustainable rate. These examples underscore that timber alternatives are crucial for preserving the world’s forests.
A sustainable solution
Eva-Last, a company that produces sustainable bamboo composite building materials, is leading efforts to address this environmental crisis. By using bamboo as a raw material, Eva-Last is offering an eco-friendly alternative to traditional timber. Bamboo grows up to 50 times faster than hardwood and produces 35% more oxygen. Moreover, their use of bamboo reduces waste: significantly planed logs can result in up to 80% waste, while bamboo fibres bring this down to just 2%.
Eva-Last’s timber alternatives, which include decking, cladding, fencing, indoor flooring, screening and railing, are produced using an extrusion process that blends bamboo fibres with recycled plastics. This combination not only creates aesthetically pleasing products that mimic the natural look of timber, but it also offers superior durability and minimal maintenance. These materials resist the elements, pests and the need for harmful chemical treatments, further reducing their environmental impact.
The scale of the plastic waste problem is also staggering. Since 1950, over 8.3 billion metric tons of mostly single-use plastic have been produced, with only 9% ever recycled. The global consumption of plastic is expected to reach 620 million tons by 2025, and a staggering 1.23 billion tons by 2050. Currently, two-thirds of all plastic is discarded, polluting land and oceans, and posing a severe threat to human and marine life. This unsustainable pattern of production and disposal is a leading cause of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
Eva-Last is addressing this issue by recycling over 26 000 tons of plastic every year. By using recycled plastics in their composite materials, the company prevents millions of tons of plastic waste from entering landfills or oceans. Recycling one ton of plastic saves 0.73 tons of CO2, the equivalent of preventing 4 000km of travel in a car. Eva-Last’s use of renewable energy also helps reduce its carbon footprint. Since 2017, Eva-Last has installed nearly 90 000m² of solar panels at their manufacturing facilities, saving 2 000 tons of CO2 emissions daily.
The company’s commitment to sustainability extends beyond production. Eva-Last is continuously evaluating its business processes to find new ways to reduce waste, offset carbon emissions and enhance the circular economy. Eva-Last’s products save thousands of trees every year, while simultaneously reducing the demand for new plastic production.
Eva-Last’s bamboo-plastic composites showcase how responsible consumption and production can go hand-in-hand with high-performance, durable and aesthetically pleasing building materials. As the world faces the triple crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, solutions like these offer hope for a more sustainable future.
