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By David Kupfer, November 2002
8 years ago at an East German International Folk Festival, as I was handed my vegetarian chili, the vendor told me I could eat the bowl or feed it to a dog. I was astounded and impressed by the innovation. As any outdoorconcert/festival/picnic goer knows, the majority of trash at such events is convenience food related. Americans threw away more than 60 billion cups, 20 billion eating utensils and 15 billion plates last year. While a small percentage were composted (at green festivals), most were destined for landfills or incinerators.
Since then I have sought the obscure edible dishware to help reduce the environmental impact of outdoor festivals and environmental events. Until folks are conditioned to carry their own cups, bowls and cutlery, edible ones seem to be a viable alternative. There are multiple benefits: lower energy use in the manufacturing process, conservation of non-renewable resources, and savings in human effort in dealing with trash – aerobic and anaerobic compostability eases disposal if not eaten.
Ten years ago, Canadian inventor David Aung, an Ontario engineer, developed an inexpensive, edible, totally biodegradable and compostable starch- based material from which he said he could manufacture hot- and cold-liquid cups, bowls, plates, and other rigid containers, packaging filler materials, as well as films of the material for flexible packaging applications. He found he could use any type of readily available cereal grain or bean -- barley, corn, oats, rice, soy, tapioca, or wheat, to name a few -- as his raw material. A cup made of the material held a hot liquid for four or more hours without deteriorating. Aung could color or flavor the material -- he made chocolate, vanilla, and orange-flavored wrappers -- print on it, and even alter the nutritional content of the packaging. His patented technology is novel in four respects: how the grain is formulated the before molding it; the design ofthe mold itself; special modifications to the conventional polymer plastic injection-molding equipment used to shape the containers; and the specific and highly controlled processing parameters of molding process.
Sadly, his product never made it to market. While the inventor planned to commercialize the technology and began manufacturing prototype containers and films, in 1994 his prototype factory in Toronto closed and the project died due to lack of investment and venture capital. "While the technology is outstanding and the potential remains," he told me, "the fast food franchises are not interested in manufacturing and commercializing products, and such an effort would have take seven figures."
* David Aung, Ph/Fax:416-297-5419.
Polish Miller Jerzy Wysocki has come up with organic bran dinner plates which are functional, eco-friendly, and good for your digestion to boot. Mill owners have been wondering what to do with their bran for centuries," Wysocki says. As a byproduct of milling grain for flour, "it's cheap, sometimes you can't even give it away" he says. Several years ago, he developed a patented compressor that uses the 100% wheat bran andcompresses it into all manner of plates, bowls, cups and platters using no additives or preservatives. The dishes are available in a variety of sizes, but only one color – the familiar deep brown of whole wheat bread. Left in the forest after a picnic or thrown into a trash can, the purely organic table wares will dissolve into eco-friendly compost in a matter of days. The plates also have the added benefit of keeping consumers regular should they choose toeat them as a high-fiber, no-calorie desert.
Wysocki complains the product is a hard sell in Poland, where 13 yearsafter communism's demise, consumers are still hungry for western brandnames, including colorful, printed plastic and paper party plates. Production of the organic dishes at his specially adapted mill in Gizycko,in NE Poland, is still small scale, averaging about 100,000 units permonth. Wysocki's bran bowl work well for thicker stews, but tends to gosoggy and limp after holding boiling hot water and other liquids for morethan 12 minutes. According to the miller-turned-inventor, a Britishsupermarket giant has expressed interest in his bran plates, while talkshave also begun with a pizza chain which sees bran platters as a potentialalternative to replace some of the cardboard used in packaging take-away pizzas.
* www.biotrem.com.pl/en/
An inventor in Taiwan, Chen Liang-erh has invented edible plates and bowlsmade out of oatmeal. Mr. Chen reportedly spent 10 years and $1.48 milliondeveloping the edible plates. Pale in color, they come in various sizesand are constructed of oatmeal pressed into firm, circular shapes.
According to a story in the Daily China News, Mr. Chen's company plans tomanufacture 6 million of the "tasty plates and bowls" per day during thefirm's first 18 months of operation. The projected production after threeyears is 14 million items per day. The edible are intended as a kind ofdessert. You savor a fine meal, and before you leave the table you pick upthe plate, bite into it, chew it up, and swallow it down. Diners who arenot interested in eating their tableware "can boil the edible plates andbowls into an oatmeal paste to make a nutritious meal for pets or farmanimals."
A firm in Britain called Potatopak has developed plates made from potatostarch. Potato plates are made from starch 100% biodegradable, 100%compostable, non-toxic, and made from natural ingredients. They aresuitable for all fast food applications, being stronger, more rigid, andmore insulative than conventional disposables. Potato Plate Companyproducts have been in limited production since 1998. The products are madefrom100% natural ingredients using a patented process. Wherever possiblethe main ingredient is sourced from waste from potato chip processingplants. The range of products to date includes trays and pots with andwithout lids, burger boxes, cups and bowls. Potatopak is the only companydoing this in the UK; they have licensed out the process to a New Zealandcompany, and they have two competitors, one in the US and the other inGermany. A whole range of products are planned: plates, trays, and
Bowls through compression-molding techniques. The products can be manufactured
in virtually unlimited shapes and designs. While you can eat a potatoplate, no harm would come to you or any animals or marine life, they arenot designed for this purpose.
* www.potatopak.co.uk and www.potatoplates.com
Edible wafer/waffle type of cups, bowls, and sheets have been commonly used by food vendors at fairs and expositions in Germany for a decade.They are employed to hold french fries, sausages, cooked mushrooms, pizza slices, crepes, desserts, and ice cream. Their drawbacks: They are highly breakable, have a low water resistance, and a higher price compared toplastic or paper products.
* www.waffel-loeser.com
Cobatco, an Illinois firm serving the food service industry, sells a waffle bowl press for the home or business user.
* http://www.cobatco.com/
In Austria, Sweden, and Germany, fast food merchant McDonalds now use utensils made out of maize produced by an Italian company, Novamont. An ice cream container made from cookie dough has been developed by McDonalds in Gernmany to replace ones formulated from plastic.
* www.novamont.com
In America, Edibowls(located in Southern California, sells six sizes of bowls wheat-based, baked, crispy taco shell like bowls to cafeterias and institutions. The only problem is because they are so crisp, they need to be served on a plate or similar surface. Ten years ago, Professor Jay-Lin Jane, of Iowa State University, developed edible dinnerware made from corn and soy protein, water, and other ingredients. "It will biodegrade in 90 days and has a roasted nut flavor," Jane said. Her process has yet to be commercialized. Edward and Sons Trading Company is now wholesaling handmade waffle bowls made from 100% organic materials. Matt's Cones is wholesaling ice cream wafer bowls. And Trader Joe's new waffle bowls, renamed bois gaufres due no doubt to their dark chocolate ruffletrims, sell for $2.49 for a box of six.
* www.edibowls.com, www.edwardandsons.com/, and
www.mattscones.com/newitems.htm
The present is not the potential. It was David Morris, founder of the Institute for Local Self Reliance, who coined the term "carbohydrate economy" 15 years ago. "New technologies, new laws and an increasingly aware public are ushering in a new materials
base for the 21st century - plant matter," he wrote.
Transitioning society's production engine toward environmentally benign, renewable materials, where farmers have the potential to process their crops into useful items has enormously positive ramifications. Agricultural crops and residues are bulky, so processing facilities could be located close to the source. There are many opportunities for new and innovative products for a more sustainable future. In the long haul, we all should be carrying around our own individual mess kits. Still, I look forward to the day I can drink some organic beer in an organic hops and barley cup as I serve my child dessert in an organic, blueberry flavored, spirulina enhanced bowl made from some complete protein mix, say local organic beans and rice, by my local farmer's co-op.
* www.carbohydrateeconomy.org
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