ALTERNATIVE HAMBURGER BOX WITHOUT PLASTIC

 

In addition to kebab and pizza, the hamburger is one of the most popular fast foods in the USA. In large fast-food chains, juicy burgers are sold every minute. Most catering establishments use disposable plastic boxes so that the fat does not leak out during takeaway. They are practical, impervious to grease, and stable.

The packaging is usually thrown away after just a few minutes. However, it is precisely the plastic packaging that causes considerable damage to our ecosystem and destroys it in the long term. And these can easily be replaced by environmentally friendly alternatives.

Plastic waste pollution from hamburger boxes

The majority of fast food chains, restaurants, delivery services, and supermarkets offer burgers and the like in plastic takeaway boxes. Thus, plastic packaging is an indispensable part of everyday life, especially when it comes to quick takeaway meals. Therefore, the following figure is not surprising: around 30% of global plastic consumption can be traced back to packaging alone.

Plastic waste: plastic and the sea

Plastic: The material that caused so much enthusiasm in the beginning has now become a global problem.

Once glorified as multifunctional, plastic was used in all areas of life. Today plastic seems to have taken on a life of its own in terms of consumption and disposal. Tons of garbage ends up in our ocean every year. 75% of this is made of plastic. The waste there remains for several hundred years because plastic does not simply come off.

About 90% of the litter in the ocean sinks to the bottom of the ocean floor, destroying the habitat of many animals. In addition, as the plastic gradually breaks down, toxic ingredients are released, released into the environment, and entered our ecosystem. This makes garbage a problem not only for animals and nature but also for people.

Disposable packaging: health hazards

Plastic is now part of our ecosystem. Micro plastics enter our environment in an uncontrolled manner - through tire abrasion, cosmetics, detergents, and cleaning agents - and have long since made it into our food chain. Micro plastics have been detected in living things, even in human stools. We even breathe in micro plastics.

Plastic contains many chemical substances that are dangerous to health:

 

Bisphenol A (BPA): The hormonally active chemical is used to manufacture polycarbonate, among other things. It is the most widely used synthetic chemical in the world. At the same time, this means that you can hardly escape it.

Relevance for disposable plastic packaging: The chemical is mainly used in the manufacture of custom packaging USA packaging materials. Even in small amounts, hormones can cause a lot of damage and affect the hormonal system of humans and animals. Impotence, infertility and fertility problems, diabetes, and obesity can all result.

Plasticizers: They make plastic elastic in the first place. Here too: from car tires to dental fillings, plasticizers are used in every industry. Under certain circumstances, they can also make you sterile, cause cancer and change the genetic make-up, such as impairing the function of the thyroid or pancreas.

Environmental protection: EU plastic ban

The EU is reacting to the global problem of plastic waste with a plastic bag to contain the severe dangers. The uncontrolled release of plastic into the environment should finally be stopped. The ban primarily applies to single-use plastic products:

Packaging made from Oxo-degradable materials

·         Plate

·         cutlery

·         plastic bags

·         Straws

·         Sticks of pleasure balloons

·         cotton swab

The focus here is on SM custom packaging made from plastics that quickly disintegrate into small pieces after use. In addition, further regulations regarding marking and labeling have been established. In this way, the consumer can see directly which symbols are used to hide harmful substances and avoid them.

Alternative: environmentally friendly hamburger boxes

Alternative disposable packaging is the latest trend. This is mainly due to the rethinking in society: environmental pollution has become a global problem that affects politics and the economy. The focus is primarily on the personal responsibility of each member of this society.

Environmentally friendly hamburger boxes made from bagasse

Disposable bagasse packaging is currently a popular environmentally friendly plastic alternative. Bagasse is the name for residual sugar cane fibers produced as a waste product during sugar production. The ecologically friendly further processing (circular economy) turns a waste product into a valuable, bio-based raw material. For the production of one-way packaging, neither a forest has to be cleared nor plantations built.

The material is robust, resilient, and can declare war on plastic packaging. If all takeaway products such as hamburgers were only delivered to customers in bagasse boxes, this would make a helpful and immense contribution to avoiding plastic products.

Other alternatives: cardboard, bamboo, and bioplastics (PLA)

In addition to bagasse, numerous other raw materials are used to manufacture alternative disposable products such as plates, bowls, and boxes. These are, for example, renewable raw materials such as bamboo and cardboard.

A lot is happening in science at the moment, especially in the field of bioplastics. Many single-use products made from custom boxes wholesale are currently available. However, sustainability is controversial. The way is paved, but numerous modifications and social adjustments still have to take place. Composting plants, for example, are currently not yet able to sensibly recycle bioplastics. Because of this, we have an overview of all the advantages and disadvantages of the plastic alternatives for hamburger boxes: