Q&A: Eco-Friendly Disposable Cutlery?
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA 
on 12.20.05
Q. We operate in the takeaway food service industry. What do you recommend in the way of environmentally friendly disposable cutlery (to replace current plastic)? I have heard of bamboo cutlery, and starch products but can't find out much about them. Regards, Warren
A.We're glad you asked, Warren. Lucky for you, there are a bevy of options out there for you, and lots of them can be found right here at TreeHugger! Let's start with the ones we know.
- Nat-Ur makes cutlery from Cereplast, a biodegradable resin made from corn and potato starch. These qualify as "compostable" rather than "biodegradable," meaning they break down more readily than simply biodegradable bioplastic.
- Gaiam makes a whole place setting from switchgrass, a high-yield perennial grass native to North America. They are covered in cornstarch to provide strength, even when wet, and durability -- they're even dishwasher safe!
- Sinlessbuying.com is a great resource for disposable dinnerware. They're made from 100% Bagasse, which is the fibrous pulp left over after processing sugar cane.
- Plantic is a company local to Warren in Australia, and, though they specialize in bioplastic packaging rather than cutlery, we're willing to bet that there's a place for them in take-out food.
There are several more that we found after a quick browse through the virtual world of disposable cutlery. For starters, Warren may want to take a peek at Plastral, an Australian site with some good local info about bioplastics. After that, click on over to Alibaba.com for a big list of biodegradable/compostable cutlery manufacturers. For a slightly more persistent option, Australian-based BD Kemp makes wooden cutlery from "controlled ecological forest cultivation," meaning they only take as much as can grow back in the same time.
This list just scratches the surface, of course. For more info on bioplastics, Metabolix is a good place to start, and Natureworks has a wide variety of products and applications for biodegradable plastic. Hope this helps, Warren, and thanks for asking!
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I think the key if you choose to actually do this is also to let your customers know that they can and should compost the cutlery when done with it, else it ends up in the landfill anyway. Maybe "compost me" could be printed/embossed on the cutlery itself?
great report! there's also Preserve Tableware from Recycline. it's available at Whole Foods.
plantic ic wiked cool--- but are they selling anything aside from chocolate (box) plastic?
Also, http://www.worldcentric.org has bagasse and other compostables for use in food service
Three weaknesses with non carbohydrate 'plastics':
- many are not transparent
- most ae not heat-resistant enough for food to go
- they need to be 'foamable', not just compact, to compete in the mass market agains the truly awful market leader which is expanded polystyrene.
When they get over these issues, or as many as possible, then they will start to be real options
New Bambu bamboo Veneerware cutlery...we're thrilled to share that we've just launched bambu Veneerware Cutlery. This is the cutlery accompaniment to the wildly popular Veneerware from bambu. Just launched this month. You can read more about it at www.bambuhome.com or write customercare@bambuhome.com to find out where to get it.
jeff