Recently, we spotlighted a major, non-petroleum-based plastic substitute: PLA. We explained that some manufacturers of straws, food boxes, and utensils choose to use PLA because its fiber-based properties ostensibly make it biodegradable.
However, further investigation revealed that PLA can’t decompose in natural environments. Thus, processors need unique, industrial-scale, and energy-hungry ovens to dispose of PLA products properly. However, while PLA is not the ideal material for single-use plastic items, it’s very useful for medical applications like sutures and screws.
Today, we'll talk about another less-than-ideal single-use-plastic-substitute material, but for one specific application: straws. What is this material? plant fiber.
Over the past few years, plant fiber straws have become one of the leading contenders to replace traditional plastic straws. Plant-fiber-straw makers utilize a handful of plants, ranging from bamboo, sugarcane, agave, hemp, and even some types of woods, as their raw material.
Manufacturers produce fiber straws similar to how paper mills produce paper. First, they shred the original plant—be it sugarcane, hemp, agave, bamboo, or barley— and then separate the pulpy, fibrous material from the plant's juices. Once dried, the pulp becomes "bagasse," meaning "dried fiber." Bagasse serves as the straws' unflattering marketing name.
Next, producers grind the bagasse into a powder and combine it with a compounding agent, usually PLA or starch.
From an environmental protection standpoint, bagasse straws dominate traditional plastic ones. Proper bagasse straws have no inorganic additives, thus making them conducive to biodegradation and composting on at least an industrial scale. However, bagasse straws are not without disadvantages.
Bagasse products' most apparent disadvantage is their inherent and unavoidable brittleness. This problem originates from bagasse being the only non-reinforced fiber type. Lastic Bamboo Resin, for example, does not have fragility problems because Lastic's compounding process guarantees structure integrity. However, bagasse's paucity of structural integrity means that the beverage drinker's slightest bend or bite will destroy the straw, rendering it functionally useless.
And, because many bagasse straw makers use PLA as their compounding agent, bagasse straws might not be able to compost in a home and garden setting. Finally, some bagasse straws— notably those made of agave or sugar fiber— melt away when used for hot beverages. This low melting point limits bagasse straws' practical usability range.
Lastic Bamboo Resin-made straws offer the perfect alternative to brittle bagasse straws. Lastic's secret compounding process results in straws with the structural strength of plastic ones, yet with the ability to both biodegrade and be composted. Additionally, Lastic straws can withstand beverages up to 100°C, so hot coffee aficionados can enjoy their liquid passion without feeling guilty about contributing to plastic pollution.
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