Potential and industrial landscape of bamboo-derived activated carbon in Malaysia: Adsorption performance and market insights

The growing utilisation of bamboo generates significant waste, necessitating sustainable valorisation strategies. This study examines the feasibility of converting bamboo waste into activated carbon (AC) via pyrolysis and assesses its adsorption performance. Under optimised conditions (600°C, 10 wt.% moisture, 20 g/L dosage), AC achieved 25.98% yield, 0.768 mg/g adsorption capacity, 95.44% methylene blue removal, and an iodine number of 121.76 mg/g. A market survey of Malaysian AC manufacturers found that 83% export globally, primarily to Japan, Italy, the UK, Germany, and the US, with 100% supplying the water treatment and air purification sectors, 66.7% serving food processing and pharmaceuticals, and 33.3% catering to gold recovery. Despite an estimated annual production of 1000–5000 tonnes, only 66.7% of manufacturers achieve this range. Industry challenges include skilled labour shortages (83.3%), high energy costs (83.3%), and raw material constraints (66.7%). Future demand is projected to grow, with 50% anticipating moderate expansion and 33.3% expecting high demand. These findings highlight bamboo-derived AC's industrial potential, offering insights into scalability and market viability in sustainable applications.