Have you heard of sugarcane bagasse? It is sometimes referred to as sugar cane pulp and is becoming increasingly popular as a more sustainable alternative to plastic food service packaging.
You may have noticed that large supermarket brands and fast food chains are replacing some of their plastic food service packaging with a different type of packaging that looks like cardboard.
Foodservice packaging represents a huge opportunity to move away from traditional plastic packaging and towards a circular economy model and close the waste loop by producing packaging from plants that can be composted and returned to the earth as soil food that can be used to grow more plants. Composting also helps to improve soil quality and retain moisture, making the land more drought resistant.
Bagasse is a natural by-product of certain manufacturing processes and, if handled properly, it can decompose in as little as four months. As an alternative to single-use and environmentally harmful coffee cup materials such as plastic and foam, it's a game changer. So, what is bagasse and what are its properties that make it the perfect alternative to your plastic cup?
Bagasse Coffee Cup
Bagasse is basically what's left over after the juice has been extracted from sugar cane. This means that you mainly find it in sugar-rich countries such as Brazil and Thailand, and those countries that produce a lot of sugar have a lot of bagasse left over. In the past, bagasse was immediately used as fuel for sugar mill machinery, leading to its reputation as waste rather than anything else. The explosion of recycling and the elimination of disposable materials has changed the fate of bagasse forever.
We have already mentioned that bagasse can decompose in as little as 4 months if properly handled in a home composter. This is one of the main points in its favour, but what else makes bagasse an ideal alternative to disposable plastic cups?
Can handle hot and cold drinks
Stable and robust
Chlorine-free
Made from an annually replenished resource
100% biodegradable and compostable
Refrigerator and microwave safe
As you can see, bagasse combines all the benefits of disposable materials with one significant difference - unlike many of these materials, it is completely biodegradable. Thanks to its versatility, you can find bagasse not only in disposable cups. Takeaway containers, bowls and plates are also popular uses for this 'waste' material, proving that it is more than just turning biofuel into beautiful cups.
Bagasse Coffee Cup
While there is no denying that bagasse is a by-product of the manufacturing process and therefore has an environmental impact in this respect, its uses go far beyond most by-products of the manufacturing process. Much of it is simply thrown into landfill or, as with bagasse in the past, is used to power more machinery. Fortunately, most bagasse is now removed from the manufacturing chain and instead follows the following process.
Production as a by-product of sugar cane juice extraction
Made into disposable cups or similar products
Use and place in a home composter
Decompose and become soil or fertiliser
Bagasse is therefore a biodegradable by-product that is used all over the world and will continue to be used every day for the foreseeable future. Thanks to improvements in recycling technology, we can now use this by-product to replace the plastic cup in your hand with something that will give back to the planet rather than consume further resources. Why don't you try bagasse?
