Cutlery made from Cellulose Acetate Biograde

Disposable tableware includes all

disposable A disposable (also called disposable product) is a product designed for a single use after which it is recycled or is disposed as solid waste. The term is also sometimes used for products that may last several months (e.g. disposable air filt ...

tableware Tableware items are the dishware and utensils used for setting a table, serving food, and dining. The term includes cutlery, glassware, serving dishes, serving utensils, and other items used for practical as well as decorative purposes. The ...

like *

disposable cup A disposable cup is a type of tableware and disposable food packaging. Disposable cup types include paper cups, plastic cups, and foam cups. Expanded polystyrene is used to manufacture foam cups, and polypropylene is used to manufacture plasti ...

s made of

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...

coated paper Coated paper (also known as enamel paper, gloss paper, and thin paper) is paper that has been coated with a mixture of materials or a polymer to impart certain qualities to the paper, including weight, surface gloss, smoothness, or reduced ink ab ...

, *

plates Plate may refer to: Cooking * Plate (dishware), broad, mainly flat vessel commonly used to serve food * Plates, tableware, dishes or dishware used for setting a table, serving food and dining * Plate, the content of such a plate (for example: ...

tablecloth A tablecloth is a cloth used to cover a table. Some are mainly ornamental coverings, which may also help protect the table from scratches and stains. Other tablecloths are designed to be spread on a dining table before laying out tableware and ...

s, * placemats *

plastic cutlery Cutlery (also referred to as silverware, flatware, or tableware) includes any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in Western culture. A person who makes or sells cutlery is called a cutler. While most cutlers ...

, *

paper napkin Tissue paper, or simply tissue, is a lightweight paper or light crêpe paper. Tissue can be made from recycled paper pulp on a paper machine. Tissue paper is very versatile, and different kinds are made to best serve these purposes, which are ...

s, etc. These products are prevalent in

fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...

restaurants, takeaways, but also for

airline meal An airline meal, airline food, or in-flight meal is a meal served to passengers on board a commercial airliner. These meals are prepared by specialist airline catering services and are normally served to passengers using an airline service tro ...

s. In private settings, this kind of disposable products has proven very popular with consumers who prefer easy and quick cleanup after parties, etc.e.g. The market for disposable tableware is huge, with an estimated $7.5 billion in 2012 in the US alone.

Kulhar

A ''

kulhar A ''kulhar'' (Hindustani language, Hindi: कुल्हड़ and Urdu: کلہڑ) or ''kulhad'', ''matir bhar'' () or simply ''bhar'' (), sometimes called a ''shikora'', is a traditional handleless pottery cup from South Asia that is typically ...

'' is a traditional handle-less

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

cup from

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

that is typically unpainted and unglazed, and meant to be disposable. Since ''kulhars'' are made by firing in a

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...

and are almost never reused, they are inherently sterile and hygienic. Bazaars and food stalls in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

traditionally served hot beverages, such as tea, in ''kuhlars'', which suffused the beverage with an "earthy aroma" that was often considered appealing.

Yoghurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yogurt its tex ...

, hot milk with sugar as well as some regional desserts, such as '' kulfi'' (traditional ice-cream), are also served in kulhars. Kulhars have gradually given way to

polystyrene Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic polymer made from monomers of the aromatic hydrocarbon styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It i ...

and

cups, because the latter are lighter to carry in bulk and cheaper.⁠⁠

Environmental impacts

As is the case for disposable cups, materials used are usually paper, plastic (including expanded polystyrene foam), or

plastic-coated paper Coated paper (also known as enamel paper, gloss paper, and thin paper) is paper that has been coated with a mixture of materials or a polymer to impart certain qualities to the paper, including weight, surface gloss, smoothness, or reduced ink ab ...

. Recycling rates are especially low for paper-based products, especially when soiled with (wet and / or oily)

scrap Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap can have monetary value, especially recover ...

s due to diminished recyclate quality. The

waste Waste are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor Value (economics), economic value. A wast ...

problem is aggravated by the fact that most of the utilities themselves come in plastic and thus disposable packaging. Efforts are made to introduce

biodegradable Biodegradation is the breakdown of organic matter by microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi. It is generally assumed to be a natural process, which differentiates it from composting. Composting is a human-driven process in which biodegrada ...

materials like sugarcane,

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

, wheat straw, palm leaves, or various types of

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

s (rice, wheat and sorghum). Nevertheless, biodegradable and composable plastics often do not break down in

landfill A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

environments.

References

{{reflist Disposable products Tableware

Kulhar

Environmental impacts

See also

References