Crop residues are highly renewable, growing back every year through use of fertilizers and crop rotation. Some crops, such as rice, can grow back within just 4 months. Compare this to forestry products, which take many years to renew, or to gypsum board and concrete, which can never be renewed and which cannot be recycled effectively.
At the end of life, Stramit board can be returned to the ground, effectively sequestering carbon and removing CO2 from the atmosphere. CO2 is the most abundant greenhouse gas on our planet and every national government is under pressure to reduce its emission. Using straw for construction eliminates some of these materials and rectifies damage done by the energy sector.
Straw contains 39.5% carbon (more for cane). For every tonne used, 3.6 tonnes of CO2 is removed from the atmosphere by plant photosynthesis. The carbon is separated and stored in the plant and the oxygen is released back into the air.
The use of straw for construction is also habit changing. The need to remove straw from the field quickly means that the residue is often burned in the field. Open straw burning is so serious in China that it accounts for 20% of all urban smog. The Chinese government deploys dedicated satellites to fight the practice and every province has a senior official employed for the sole purpose of preventing it. Even so up to 50% is still burned.
Open field burning is widespread in all rice-growing countries and is directly responsible for 250,000 deaths per year due to pollution.