Finding a low-carbon alternative to plastic - bagasse tableware
This photo shows a woman handling tableware made from bagasse. Finding a low-carbon alternative to plastic - bagasse tableware Ms. Zhu's efforts were inspired by her first visit to the United States in 2007. Ms. Zhu, who grew up in China, said she was surprised by the widespread use of single-use plastic plates, bowls and cutlery in the United States. "(I) thought, 'Can we use more sustainable materials? she said in a statement accompanying the study. Her concern is easy to understand. More than 8 million tons of plastic waste is dumped into the ocean each year, and only about 14 percent of the 78 million tons of plastic packaging produced in 2019 is recycled. In their search for low-carbon alternatives to plastic, Zhu and her colleagues focused on two widely available materials: bamboo and bagasse , or sugarcane pulp. The researchers twisted fine bamboo fibers with coarse bamboo fibers made from bagasse to form a material that could be molded into a stable and