Are there any good single use options out there?

A lot of the time when we are talking about replacing single use products with a reusable alternative we talk about replacing single use plastic. But the landscape of single use is changing rapidly and now there are a lot of different options in terms of materials that a reusable food container could be replacing.

Obviously the environmental impact is greatest when you’re replacing plastic because single use plastic is pretty horrible stuff. You know the drill – it takes hundreds of years to break down in landfill, it winds up in the oceans choking our fish and these days recycling is not really happening all that well, if at all.

But what about the other options for single use the so called bio plastics get a lot of positive press – they look good, they function like plastic. But are they all that much better?

When it comes to manufacture bio plastic is probably better than plastic which comes from crude oil. But corn fields (particularly GMO corn) take a lot of energy for farming and have environmental issues including diverting farmland from food production and causing pollution and more, so here is still a strong case for consuming and producing less.

After manufacture, when you send a bioplastic to landfill it never breaks down. Which isn’t any better than regular plastic. Given additionally there is currently no way to recycle bioplastics in Australia  –there is even an argument for plastic being better in that sense – although rest assured we won’t be making that here.

Cardboard is often touted as an excellent alternative – but often for single use when it comes to food, it needs to be coated (often with plastic) to ensure against leakage and once that happens the cardboard is not recyclable. It breaks down in landfill in a handful of years though – although while it does that its releasing methane. Trees also take awhile to grow and as we become more conscious about waste,  over use of paper probably doesn’t sit right either.

For food business, or cafe owners wanting to do the right thing for their customers, the environment and their businesses the options are actually a trade off of bad for bad and bio plastic is definitely being missold. Worse still bio plastics cost roughly twice as much as their regular plastic counterparts. Cardboard offers a lower environmental cost but the products themselves are again pricey.

The argument for reuse – even when you account for washing (so water, electricity) is strong. It’s cheaper over time than single use, which is good news for businesses and their customers. Also environmentally the argument for reuse – and creating less waste in the first place - stacks up as well. Good for the planet and good for you.