Eat your plate up!
Translated from a Dutch article in De Telegraaf 5 July 2003

While many people may need to get use to the taste of edible plates and bowls, these products have proven to be enormously popular in Poland. Nature lovers, in particular, are very pleased that no plastic picnic items would be left behind in open areas.
     The products are developed by the Polish firm Biotrem. The company had the idea to use bran, the husks of wheat grains – produced in huge quantities as waste products in flour factories – for decompostible plates. In Poland, this product quickly became a success.
     The company was faced with two problems. The production process did not go well, nor did it fulfil many needs. The company then engaged the help of EC-Pack. A Dutch branch of Biotrem was set up and EC-Pack scientist Dr. Ulphard Thoden van Velzen is currently on secondment to Biotrem to work on further technological applications and the marketing aspects.
     "The plates were originally made to be decompostible. The edible bit was stumbled upon by chance," said Dr. Thoden van Velzen. "Bran is cheap and would in any case be a waste product of the flour factory. After the company has produced these plates, a survey conducted among users revealed that the plates and saucers were also eaten up as well."
     Research work conducted by Wageningen-UR is now directed at two aspects: edibility and decompostibility. "The demands have therefore become visibly higher. Imagine the element of hygiene required for food products. The product will have to be modified accordingly."
     Dr. Thoden van Velzen expects much from the decompostibility aspect. "I do not know if the Dutch will show great enthusiasm for edible plates. We would certainly have to do something about the taste in that case. But the production of decompostible packaging can rocket. No more plastic mushroom containers in the rubbish heap, but a decompostible container for the bin for organic waste. These kind of new packaging material can have a big impact on waste reduction."
     But it will not be easy to set up a production line in The Netherlands. "This is because of the Dutch government," said Dr. Thoden van Velzen. "However, we expect that the first products will appear on the market at the beginning of December. It would be five years down the line before we have an assortment to offer."
    
Go to the Dutch page of this article.