Bagasse Plates: An Eco-Friendly Alternative to Conserve Water

Conserving water has now become the topmost priority for the hospitality industry. This is because of its large share in contributing to the emerging water crisis. There are endless opportunities for restaurant owners to help the environment with small decisions that can have a huge impact. One such decision is replacing the dinnerware with an eco-friendly alternative such as bagasse plates.

These biodegradable tableware are known for their eco-friendly properties and strong build quality. However, one more property that often gets overlooked is the amount of water used in bagasse tableware manufacturing. In this blog, we will learn how bagasse plates are enabling water conservation for restaurants and food outlets.

Use of Water In Dinnerware manufacturing

According to a study, it can take as much as 1050 ml of water to create a 9-inch ceramic plate. Add to this, the amount of water it will take to clean it after every cycle in a dishwasher.

Similarly, paper plates require huge amounts of water for plantation and production. These plates may help the environment by reducing plastic but water consumption will remain a concern. Here, bagasse plates make more sense for your environmental initiative as they don’t require trees to be cut.

Thus, the restaurant owners need to consider the water consumption in the entire life cycle of a dinnerware. Some of the products may sound eco-friendly as they use less to no water after the purchase. However, these products may cause more damage because of the water consumption during the initial stages of manufacturing.

Characteristics of Bagasse Plates

Bagasse was not a valuable resource in the earlier days as it was considered a waste. It is the fibrous residue we get from crushing sugarcane or sorghum stalks for their juice. After extracting the juice, it was thrown into waste and burned to cause air pollution.

Nevertheless, it took some innovative thinking by organizations such as Chuk, to make the best use of sugarcane fiber in the food service industry. Now, we can use the fibrous residue to manufacture different types of dinnerware and packaging materials. Its disposable nature ensures the plates will not cause harm to nature. The following are some properties of bagasse plates to help understand their benefits-

1. Bagasse plates are completely biodegradable and don’t leave behind any harmful chemicals or residue.
2. You can use a composite bin to produce nutrient-rich compost.
3. These biodegradable plates are microwave-safe tableware.
4. They can carry dishes with oil and moisture.
5. You can rely on their strength and durability.

Bagasse plates are extremely helpful in kitchens where multi-type cuisine is served. They are meant to hold different types of food items while withstanding extreme temperatures. Combine this with their eco-friendly attributes, you have the perfect plate to serve or deliver food to your customers.

Water Conservation and Bagasse Plates

How does switching to bagasse plates can help conserve water? The answer lies in the production of these plates. As we know, these plates are manufactured using the residue from sugarcane. Therefore, we can eliminate the use of water to grow trees with the sole purpose of manufacturing paper-based products.

Sugarcane may require a heavy amount of water during the cultivation stage. However, the plates from bagasse will not have any impact on the primary use of these crops. We are using only the waste products that would have ended up in a composite pit or waste fire.

Moreover, it takes a very low amount of water to produce one bagasse plate compared to the alternatives. You can always dig a compost bin for these plates in your backyard instead of throwing them in the dustbin. This eliminates the regular use of water to clean the plates to make them reusable for the sake of the environment.

Additionally, manufacturing of bagasse plates can easily incorporate water recycling measures. For example, at Chuk, we recycle up to 50% of the back water generated at paper machines. This water is reused after cleaning in the manufacturing process. The state of the art system has gained recognition from CII as the ‘Noteworthy Water Efficient Unit’. Thus, we can safely say that using bagasse tableware saves water at manufacturing as well as end use stage.

Customer and Business Collaboration For Sustainability

A simple switch to bagasse plates will not have the same impact if the customers are uninformed of its benefits. You need to promote the use by educating your audience. It will help create an impact as the customers will slowly make changes in their habits.

You can also add more zero-waste products in your restaurants to further help the cause. It will attract more customers who share the same initiative towards the environment. Also, give the customers an option to opt out of dinnerware in packaging to avoid unnecessary waste.

Conclusion

In the end, the use of bagasse plates will have multiple benefits for restaurants and the environment. You can trust the quality of these plates to provide a great dining experience to your customers.

To further the water conservation cause, you can start procuring tableware material for your restaurant or retail store from manufacturers like Chuk. Here, we offer bagasse tableware that raises the standards of quality and aesthetics.  With a wide variety and award-winning design, you can use the tableware set for any occasion. For more info, checkout our product collections.