Are bio-toners as environmentally friendly as they seem?

Are bio-toners as environmentally friendly as they seem?

One only has to look at media outlets to realise that the Amazon rainforest is on fire and the world is finally noticing, with the media latching on quite late.

(Sourced from Courthouse News)

According to (The Washington Post) the fires are still ongoing, with the smoke getting so bad that it seemed to bring the night in quickly in Sao Paulo on August 20. In addition to this, reports claim the fires were started intentionally—many of them being farmers.

Elsewhere, a trade war is happening between the East and the West – the soybean tariffs from the US are causing China to turn to Brazil. How might this involve the printing industry? Not many know that ‘sustainable’ bio-toners are made from soybeans. But some are asking are soybean generated bio-toners as sustainable as we think.

Currently, China has a massive hunger for soybeans, with over 71 million tons being imported in the last 12 months. Some claim a ‘root’ reason for the origin of the Amazon fires is the action by farmers to prepare their farms to meet the growing demands for soybeans. It’s quite possible the fires are partly due to the demand for bio-toner in the manufacturing process.

What is clear, right now, is the dangerous situation that may be caused by China’s hunger for soy. It may derail the recent progress the world has made to halt deforestation. Some facts about China’s hunger for soybeans include:

• Soybeans are the most imported agricultural product in China
• Soybean imports are up 815 percent since joining the World Trade Organisation
• China is expected to use the equivalent of one-third of every acre of Soybeans harvested in the world, with most coming from Brazil

For more information on China’s Soybean consumption, view here