Packaging Comparison: Conventional vs Biodegradable Food Packaging
We have a great range of biodegradable take away packaging, and it was time to do a comparison of the packaging against conventional packaging to see if it was a suitable competitor. We put our packaging up against a standard cardboard burger box and a large cooldrink cup with lid, a single walled takeaway coffee cup with cardboard sleeve, and a plain disposable paper plate.
You can see larger versions of each image by clicking on them.
Our biodegradable products up for the test
Burger Boxes
Our biodegradable burger box is made from bagasse fibres. Our takeaway competitor is a common cardboard burger box with printed coating for branding. The cardboard is fairly thin which results in a flimsy and weak container, especially when containing a large burger. The bagasse is thicker and feels stronger, and holds its shape better with a burger inside. The cardboard wasn’t able to withstand any kind of liquid, make the board weaker on the inside and damaging the printed coating on the outside. The bagasse was able to withstand more liquid and didn’t have much damage inside or out. For us, the bagasse box is a much better option, and probably has a better chance of keeping your burger safe.
Cooldrink Cups
Our biodegradable cup (we used the 12oz) is also made from bagasse with a PLA lid. The takeaway cup was made from cardboard with a wax coating inside. The takeaway cup feels fairly sturdy, but it’s easy to see that without the wax coating the cup would absorb the liquid and fall apart. Wax coated products aren’t recyclable due to the combination of chemicals and have to be handled separately when thrown away. The bagasse cup didn’t feel as sturdy as the takeaway cup, but for a single-walled cup, it was still strong and didn’t absorb any liquid even though it didn’t have a wax coating. While the bagasse cup looks smaller than the takeaway cup, it can still take just as much liquid, and it won’t biodegrade while you’re drinking!
Coffee Cups
We used the same biodegradable cup as above as it can contain both cold and hot drinks – something not many takeaway products can boast! The takeaway cup was a single walled cardboard cup with a cardboard sleeve (not shown). It was able to retain heat for a fair length of time, but the outside of the cup was too hot to touch without the sleeve. It retained heat for roughly the same length as the bagasse cup, with the assistance of the sleeve. Both the bagasse cup and lid are biodegradable, unlike the takeaway cup – the cup also has a wax coating inside which means it is not recyclable. The lid is a Type 6 plastic which is recyclable but not environmentally friendly. the only part of this cup that can be recycled is the cardboard sleeve.
Plates
Our bagasse plate is a 26cm plate. We do also have an 18cm plate option. Our takeaway plate is a plain ‘paper’ plate made from layered paper. The paper plate felt thin and flimsy, and unable to hold much weight, making eating anything off it more than a mission. The bagasse plate is much thicker and feels considerably stronger. It can hold more weight than the paper plate, and can resist liquids far better – the paper plate simply absorbs liquids and damages the plate. The bagasse plate is fully biodegradable, although the paper plate is recyclable at least, but not as environmentally friendly.
Findings
From all our comparisons, we’ve found our biodegradable packaging to be a great alternative to most of the usual takeaway options. They feel stronger and more capable, less likely to break in use, able to withstand liquids and heat. Not that the other packaging can’t do that as well, but we feel the biodegradables do it better. Want to find out why? Order your biodegradable packaging from us today to see and feel the difference!
