Many of us remember them from childhood. The bamboo plowshares. Long since replaced by the plastic competitor. But now the bamboo sticks are on their way back. At least in Western Norway. – The advantage of bamboo is that it does not have the same degradation time as plastic in nature, says Vilde Grøthe Holtmoen in Vestland County’s transport department. Winter’s plow sticks have popped up along roadsides all over the country. An old acquaintance has appeared on many of the county roads in Western Norway: Bamboo. Plastic on the way The tropical plant that grows in Asia and South America has virtually disappeared here in the north after the introduction of plastic sticks. But in 2020, the politicians in Vestland adopted a spatial strategy to avoid plastic on roads. There have been consequences for the stakes that are supposed to keep people and plow trucks out of the ditch. Some of the plugs broke during the winter, and several climate and environmental organizations previously advocated moving away from plastic plugs. The fact that most of today’s plastic chopsticks are made from recycled plastic, and are produced briefly in Sweden, has not been enough to remove the problem. In Vestland, the transition to bamboo sticks is underway. In the spring, both whole and destroyed plastic sticks must be collected. Bamboo sticks on the wrong side will, on the other hand, rot. Photo: Martin Værum Anda / news The decision from the politicians states, among other things, that they must choose natural products when they buy new plowshares. – If the bamboo sticks go astray, they will rot, while it will take a very long time for the plastic sticks to disappear. In large parts of the county, the plastic plugs will remain, in any case until their contract expires. But in the new contracts for road operations in the north of the county, in Sogn og Fjordane, it is specified that the plowshares must be made of something other than plastic. Plastic best in test The Swedish Road Administration has also considered using plowshares made of something other than plastic. Throughout the winter of 2021, they tested different types of plow sticks, including red plastic and bamboo, to see if there were good alternatives to what they had used previously. The different types were assessed according to how visible they were and how durable they were. Visible and durable plowshares are important for traffic safety, says Larsen. The picture is from the test area at Bjorli airport in 2021. Photo: STATENS VEGVESEN The results from the test field were unequivocal, according to chief engineer at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration Øystein Larsen: – Red plastic sticks were the best. – They are most visible under the vast majority of conditions, and best tolerate the stresses they are exposed to out on the winter road. Generally speaking, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration let the contractors themselves assess whether they should use plowshares made of plastic or bamboo. – Today, most of it is probably plastic. As the quality of the plastic skewers is so much better, most people have switched to using plastic skewers, says Larsen. Greenhouse gas and microplastics As part of the experiment, the Swedish Road Administration also had the greenhouse gas emissions of the various alternatives analyzed by the consulting firm Multiconsult. The alternative in wood and recycled plastic had the lowest greenhouse gas emissions, but also a shorter lifespan, says Larsen. – Ordinary plastics produce higher emissions for each stick produced, but they can be used for several years. On fv. 60 above Utvikfjellet between Gloppen and Stryn, the bamboo stakes are in place. Photo: Martin Værum Anda / news – Do you know if they considered plastic on deviants and microplastics in that analysis? – In addition to having a life cycle analysis on climate emissions, the risk of pollution was assessed. It is clear that plastic left lying around in nature is unfortunate, so if our plastic is left lying around it poses a risk of littering and microplastics. Larsen adds that the Swedish Road Administration is constantly working to ensure that as much plastic as possible is collected in the spring. In Vestland county council, they are aware that the plastic plugs have a longer lifespan, says environmental adviser Holtmoen. – They must tolerate standing in the weather and wind well, but it is clear that they can break more easily. Whether the bamboo sticks – which according to Vestland county are imported from China – will become the new normal in Vestland remains to be seen, she says. – In any case, this is what has been chosen in the contracts that start up now, so we will see how it works. The yellow bamboo sticks were also popular among Russians a couple of generations ago. That time is probably over, but vegans are back. Like here in Stad municipality in Nordfjord. Photo: Asgeir Heimdal Reksnes / news
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Going back to bamboo plow sticks – discarding the plastic sticks – news Vestland
