Peruvian Group Creates Compostable Plates Made Of Banana Leaves
by Annie Kin
A group of young Peruvians has launched a project called ‘Bio Plant’, which creates disposable plates and bowls made entirely from banana leaves.
With the financial sponsoring from the Innóvate Peru Program (through the Bio Challenge contest which backs the development of innovative solutions focused on sustainability), they were able to design and manufacture specialized machines – a presser, a shipper, and a die cutter – for the production of the biodegradable dishes. With the new equipment, they are able to manufacture 50,000 dishes monthly.
Bio Plant’s assortment of plates and bowls made from banana leaves. Photo: Chuwa Plant
Josué Soto, the leader of the project, said they are working directly with small producers in the Peruvian Amazon, who are provided a fair wage for their work.
A typical logged tree will make about 1000 paper plates. To make bright white paper plates, pulp derived from wood fibers must be bleached. Chlorine compounds are ranked among the most hazardous industrial chemicals in large volume use; they are known cancer-causing agents, and also are suspected of causing developmental, reproductive, and immune system damage in living organisms (including humans).
64 billion paper cups and plates being thrown away every year in the USA alone. That’s roughly 64 million trees and a huge amount of unsustainable land practices.
Paper plates cannot be recycled.
Plastic plates may take centuries to break down, which doesn’t mean ‘biodegrading’. Disposable plastic plates simply break apart into smaller pieces called ‘micro plastic’.
These plates and bowls from Bio Plant, however, will completely biodegrade in less than 60 days. No chemicals are used for bleaching so no carcinogenic chemicals will be leaching into the food.
The leaves used to manufacture these plates are ones that have fallen to the ground when bunches of bananas have been plucked. No tree needs to be cut down or picked from for the leaves.
“The approximate sale price of our dishes is 100 to 120 soles (US$29.64-35.56) for 100 dishes, depending on the thickness of the sheet, but over time it may be more accessible to all consumers,” said Soto.
Currently, the group plans to enter the natural restaurants and ecological wineries market with their product.
