VANCOUVER, B.C. — BAP Industries of Guatemala has announced the signing of a 10-year exclusive bamboo purchase agreement with the U. S.-based EcoPlanet Bamboo Group for 100 percent of the off-take from its sustainably grown Nicaraguan bamboo plantations, as part of a strategic alliance with Advance Pulp and Paper Machinery AP & P Machinery of British Columbia, Canada.
Utilizing AP & P technology, BAP will invest in the construction and operation of the world’s first bamboo bio-refinery and associated paper mill, which is to be co-located in Nicaragua within proximity of the bamboo raw resource. This initial facility will have the capacity to process up to 250,000 metric tons of bamboo annually, into a range of 100 percent bamboo toilet, tissue and cleaning papers.
BAP & AP & P innovative pulping technology is zero waste, closed loop, chlorine free, and utilizes only 30 percent of the energy and water of a traditional wood chip pulp mill. Combined with EcoPlanet Bamboo’s tree-free, deforestation-free bamboo fiber, which has contributed to reforestation efforts in one of the most deforested parts of the planet, this strategic alliance is a triple-win scenario for conscious-minded consumers across North and Latin America.
“The bamboo purchase agreement with EcoPlanet and the announcement of a $60M Nicaraguan facility with BAP is just the first step of a multi-faceted strategic alliance aimed at turning the toilet paper industry from a negative global footprint into something positive,” says Mark Nash, CEO of AP & P Machinery. Mario Salan, CEO of BAP adds that this facility is the first of a trio of such bamboo industrial developments to be announced in the coming months.
EcoPlanet Bamboo has been committed to developing closed loop, clean bio-refineries, to ensure that end products are as clean, sustainable and environmentally positive as the bamboo fiber itself. “The Bamboo Purchase Agreement with BAP and larger partnership into a state of the art manufacturing facility in Nicaragua fulfills a major goal we set out to achieve seven years ago. Most importantly it will provide hundreds of much-needed jobs in Nicaragua, reward all those who have contributed towards achieving our triple bottom line vision, and provide the final piece in the building of a global bamboo resource base as a viable and market-driven solution to deforestation” says CEO Troy Wiseman.