How is bagasse sugarcane developed for use in dinnerware?

As a business owner, one of the most important decisions that you can make is ones which will benefit and help the environment for years to come. This means making decisions that might otherwise feel uncomfortable but need to be made. For example, you might find it easier to buy in bulk single use plastic items like cutlery, utensils, paper trays, and dinner plates. However, did you know that you could turn to a much safer, simpler alternative in the form of bagasse sugarcane?

This has become one of the most effective forms of compostable tableware. From plates and food trays for takeaway foods to high quality coffee cups and lids, we see bagasse sugarcane used all over the world today. The process in which the product is created is very interesting. This fibrous matter comes from the remains of the sugarcane once the juice has been fully extracted. The end result is a durable, compostable product that is a natural by-product of a process that we use on a daily basis en masse.

How, though, is sugarcane taken from a by-product of a process and turned into something that could make your hospitality business more environmentally efficient?

How is bagasse sugarcane manufactured?

The process, as mentioned above, starts when sugarcane is having the juice extracted from its body. This allows for the remaining fibrous matter to be left behind. Normally, this would be a waste product that is simply thrown out and never used, creating massive waste of a natural product. You do not, though, have to make such a choice; you could instead turn to a biodegradable alternative to single use plastics.

The stalks used to be thrown away or even burnt. Today, though, manufacturing processes allow us to take the stalks, turn it into a pulp-like mass, and turn it into a substance akin to paper. It offers the same kind of durability that you would expect from a paper or foam cup. It can take a large amount of hot or cold fluid, like a cup of water or coffee. And, crucially, it can also take a huge amount of variety in terms of the shapes and sizes it can be moulded into.

As such, you can get bagasse sugarcane coffee cups and lids, tableware, disposable dinnerware, utensils, and just about anything else that you might think you could benefit from using bagasse sugarcane for. It has become a common use alternative to many items that we would normally have made from damaging, synthetic plastic.

The process is molded into various shapes, becoming ideal for primarily food and drinks packaging. At the same time, it can be used as an environmentally sustainable solution as it can break down in a matter of days. Compared to plastics, which can take centuries, and you can see first-hand why there is such a natural clamour to turn to bagasse sugarcane.

Single use plastics can seem like the easy option, but it really can cause more problems than you might expect. Today, the easy option is to move away from plastics, not continue their damaging day-to-day usage.