Natural Teak leaf vs. Polystyrene® and Paper: A comparison of the energy used to make single-use plates

The earth has been clogged with plastic problems since plastic become the dominant form of food packaging. Producing high-quantity plastic alternative products is a must to try to replace plastic. Natural leaves have been traditionally used for wrapping food and packaging. So, they can be a good alternative solution in single-use plates. However, the energy demand for the production and distribution of leaf-based products should be compared with that of other types of materials, such as plastic and paper. To make an estimation, the automatic molding machine was developed and technology was prepared for teak leaf single-use plates production. The energy demand for the entire life cycle of leaf-based plates was estimated and compared with Polystyrene® and paper single-use plates. The produced leaf plate energy demand is lower than the Polystyrene® and paper plates due to locally sourced raw materials and simple manufacturing. When compared to Polystyrene® and paper one, the energy used by leaf plates is only 17.7% from plastic plates and 12.9% from paper one. In addition, the way for the further reduction of energy consumption was determined with the help of numerical modeling.