Biodegradable and Compostable Meat Trays
The perfect alternative to traditional polystyrene foam meat trays.
The food packaging industry has made initial steps to reduce the many thousands of tonnes of packaging waste it produces in the UK every year.
Who we are
Single Use Alternatives was founded by Adrian and Neil; two brothers who are passionate about enjoying the outdoors and caring for the environment. Concerned about the impact single use plastics are having upon the environment, we decided to offer a range of cost effective high quality, alternative products.
To find out more about our products simply browse through our website. If you have any questions we’d love to hear from you: please complete the enquiry form on our contact page.
We're slowly seeing recyclable and biodegradable packaging on the supermarket shelves, but all too often, when buying meat products at supermarkets, products are packaged using expanded polystyrene trays, with a standard plastic cling film wrapper. The reason is, of course, that the polystyrene is a lightweight, waterproof and cheap container for meat products. But unfortunately it comes at an environmental cost to the planet and to human health.
Compostable meat trays made from Bagasse
Great strides have been made in the production of new types of packaging to rival traditional polystyrene. One of the main products now available is a tray made of recycled sugarcane called Bagasse.
Bagasse is the fibrous material that is left when the juices are removed from the sugarcane stalk. In years gone by, this fibrous bulk has been thrown away as a waste product or used in paper making, but now that Bagasse is used in a novel process to make sustainable goods.
A wet Bagasse pulp is sent to a manufacturing facility, where it is converted to a dry pulp board after being pressed in a beating tank. After this, the substance is mixed with an oil and water resistant agent to make the substance sturdier. The mixture is then piped into moulding machines, where the Bagasse is pressed into tray form, quality checked and then passed on for packing and sale.
Butchers and eco-friendly packaging
Like any other food retailers, butchers and meat retailers need to be showing their 'eco-credentials' when supplying their products to the end user. A green narrative is more important than ever to today's eco-savvy customer, so using compostable meat trays made from Bagasse shows customers your commitment to the use of sustainable packaging which is 100% biodegradable and compostable.
Why use an alternative to expanded polystrene butchers trays?
Expanded polystyrene is a petroleum based non biodegradable foam. It will remain on the earth forever and ever increasing expanded polystyrene waste is harmful to humans, wildlife, marine life, our food supply and the environment in general, whilst costing taxpayers millions in clean up and mitigation costs. Makers of expanded polystyrene food trays will tell you that it is 'recyclable' in that it can be washed and used again, but in practise in the UK, councils ask for used polystyrene meat trays to be placed in the general garbage bin as they don't like to have the 'contaminated' product in with the rest of the recycling collections. So the expanded polystyrene trays are either put into landfills, where they will stay for centuries, or they are incinerated to produce energy, but at a huge cost to the environment.
Butchers trays made from Bagasse, of course, can be composted along with food waste, and will break down into re-usable compost which will enrich the earth and which is a very useful product for agriculture.
If you'd like to learn more about how we can help your business become more eco-friendly, please take a browse around our website, especially on the Bagasse trays section. If you have any queries, please feel free to contact us via our contact form.