Inhabitat

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UCLA uses these at some of its campus eateries. They feel (and taste) exactly like dried pasta gone slightly stale. Not at all unpleasant, and the taste of even bland food completely overpowers it.

Given how much they remind me of pasta, it’s surprising how resiliant they are. I have a spudware spoon submerged in a jar of water on my desk right now. After a week under water, it isn’t yet showing signs of disintegrating. If nothing happens after a month, I’m going to try boiling it. If that fails, I’ll guess I’ll try sticking it in the compost bin with the coffee grounds. Maybe they need a little acid to start breaking up.

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I’ll be interested to know how Russell’s experiment goes … as it regards “real world” biodegrading of the product.

I’m also interested to know how green [or not] the manufacturing process is for the spudware + other EPS products. Anyone know?

Cheers
J.

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I recently left a comment on another blog re: biodegradable disposable cutlery/ dishware, so I feel it is only fair for me to do the same on the site that I write for…

I agree that biodegradable products are a step in the right direction, however nothing biodegrades in a landfill. I think part of creating awareness is acknowledging that without a system in place to deal with these products, either recycling them or composting, it is an incomplete solution. Creating these systems, however, I fully acknowledge, is beyond the realm of the average citizen, but will require business and governmental involvement and no doubt take some time.

I completely sympathize with not only reporting on a complex issue with many gray areas, but also trying to be a good consumer in a world of incomplete solutions. It is frustrating to be excited about a product, but then realize at the end of the day it is still “garbage”. I suppose, at least, potatoes are better than petroleum.

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How many times can you wash them..?

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OK, now lets get SpudWare to make lids for EatWare compostable food containers, and we have compostable packaging and utensils for all fast food. Goodbye styrofoam.

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$20 for fifty of each utensil? Call me when it’s down to $5. Neat, but waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too expensive when compared with traditional plastic utensils.

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How about cutlery that I can eat when done? :)

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In the whole discussion I am missing the point of why using disposable cutlery at all! Guys, why don’t you use (stainless steel) cutlery. No need to compost it after a couple of uses, just wash and reuse it for decades. I even do that for parties with a lot of people. Same goes for glasses.

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Like Russell, I’m at UCLA and I’ve also been doing some experiments. I buried a spoon halfway in some dirt - after about a month or so, it got kinda brittle and crumbled/powderized when stressed. This was during a dry summer so I don’t know if moister soil would’ve had a different effect. It was a sunny patch of dirt, though, so maybe UV had a role.

I’ve had another one sitting in my drawer here for a few months now (since June-ish) and it shows no signs of wear at all. I use it to stir teas and such a few times a week, though I do wipe it off after use.

I guess I was hoping for more dramatic biodegradation- the display near where they are dispensed clamed biodegradation within 40 days or some such. I think the 180 day figure cited above is closer.

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I have sometimes heard that the amount of starch in a ‘norma’ potato is not enough to make its industrial use economically viable. How about the plants used in this product, are they genetically modified?

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i’ve used these at a whole foods market. they are not as sturdy or as heat resistant. the tines on the forks bend off if you use it on anything tough, and ive seen the spoons become flimsy in hot soup. the knives are kind of a joke for cutting meat, takes twice as long. nice idea, just doesnt seem to be perfected yet.

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This looks great! What an excellent move for the environment.

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Is this edible? Id like to eat it.

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[…] systemic level. Instead of telling people to stop buying petrol-based plastics, let’s create patato-based plastics instead. Whatever, just make them from anything other than the poisonous chemicals we use […]

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I notice two themes in this thread: “Does it really biodegrade?” and “Is it sturdy?”. Note that if both these are ideals, they probably conflict. Folks in the business of designing bioresins have to do a balancing act. They want their products to be shelf-stable and heat- and mouth-resistant, but also compostable.

To make this possible at all, the standards for compostability have to call for a very bioactive process. And the “official” standards (ASTM D6400 and its Euro equivalent) do just that. To be certified compostable, a bio-based product needs to break down in the conditions common to municipal and commercial composting operations. These include carefully controlled moisture and oxygen, and pretty high temps, usually over 150F. Few of us get those conditions in our piles at home. (When I do, it’s through very generous use of urine-rich horse manure.)

Spudware(R) can stand up to boiling water because the latter hasn’t the bioactivity of the compost heap. Heat and bioactivity are both required.

Notice the (R) after Spudware. The name is a registered trademark of Excellent Packaging and Supply, and if your food service is using biodegradable cutlery that isn’t Spudware, it may not be the same stuff at all. If it droops in the soup, it certainly isn’t Spudware. More likely, it’s PLA (corn plastic), which is pretty cool stuff, but decidedly not heat-resistant.

Exactly the same stuff as Spudware does exist under different names. The cutlery sold as “Vegware” by the company of the same name in the UK is the same. (The owner of that biz plans to register “Vegware” as his own trade name for the product.)

[Disclosure: I’m currently doing work for Excellent Packaging and Supply. Great company.]

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[…]   http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/10/13/spudware-cutlery-made-from-potatoes/ Filed under: Uncategorized […]

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[…] spudware […]

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[…] Inhabitat read more about Bioplastic here Posted in Eco, […]

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Okay! Calm down!

1. Is what way is by any measure similar to conventional plastic cutlery?
2. Cutlery replaced by compostable alternatives isn’t styrofoam - it’s mostly PP. The price for a ton of PP would get you 1/3 of a ton of this material
3. Potato is rarely GM - and this stuff comes from China who have no GM crop.
4. PLA Cutlery can come with heat resistance (www.compostablepackaging.co.uk)
5. It’s agreed generally that this will compost within a year in a home compost heap
6. So what if it ends up in landfill? No oil used to burn it
7. If you want takeaways to give away stainless steel cutlery to people - know that that’s a hell of a workload to replace. Not to mention added shipping weight adding to fuel consumption

It’s all good in the compostable packaging hood.

Ali

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[…] the last-minute things like plattering had to be done.  ‘Ka had brought cutlery from CA -SPUDWARE, to be precise- made from potato starch and soy oil, while I had bought Earthshell, disposable, […]