If two entrepreneurs in Richmond, California, have their way, before long you’ll be using disposable tableware and cutlery with less landfill guilt. Allen King and Steven Levine of Excellent Packaging & Supply manufacture and distribute compostable dinner plates and coffee cups made from sugar cane residue.1 The company makes drinking straws and take-out boxes made from corn starch and also features a line of Spudware—forks, spoons, and knives that feel like plastic but are actually made from a biodegradable blend of potato starch and soy oil.
Watch for new products to emerge from the rapidly growing field of bioplastics and compostable disposables. Companies are experimenting with renewable materials such as corn and tapioca starch, cellulose, and soy protein, which aren’t hazardous in production and decompose in the environment when discarded.