The company turning french fries into eco-friendly cling wrap

July 24, 2023 8:41 PM

The company turning french fries into eco-friendly cling wrap. The plant-based bio-wrap industry is challenging the dominance of petroleum-based plastics, as consumers become increasingly willing to pay for environmentally friendly alternatives.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (8 comments total)

I like these things, and I've written about this kind of product before, or talked to folks working on them, and it's really hard to get in there. Plastics are miracle products for what they do. Just unbelievably practical if you don't care about life on Earth. Replacing them with a worse, more expensive alternative at the scales they're used isn't a business, it's a hole to throw money in. And until we write laws that make it more expensive to do plastics than the sustainable alternatives, it's gonna stay that way. It's depressing but I love seeing people beating on this wall. They're not giving up and nor should we, but it's not going to be easy or cheap for pretty much anyone involved.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 11:56 PM on July 24, 2023 [15 favorites]

I was happy to find EcoLeo bags for LitterGenies. Maybe someone else will be too.
posted by humbug at 4:06 AM on July 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

Mod note: Several derailing comments removed. Please stay focused on the subject, thanks!
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:13 AM on July 25, 2023 [2 favorites]

Related: The Real Reason Why Saran Wrap Doesn't Cling Anymore.

(TL;DR: it's a rare case of a corporation deciding to take hit of changing a successful product to reduce environmental impact.)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:46 AM on July 25, 2023 [5 favorites]

I wonder what the proportion of plastic wrap usage is by consumers, vs businesses. As the first image shows, it's heavily used for the mundane purpose to keep and protect boxes on pallets.

Wrapping a single pallet probably exceeds the average consumer usage for maybe an entire year, at the minimum? There's a running joke that the big box of wrap from Costco lasts longer than people's houses, marriages, kids growing up, etc. But businesses go through a huge roll on a regular basis.

Personally, plastic wrap seems like a relic from the past. I bought the smallest, cheapest roll over a decade ago and it just sits in my kitchen drawer. Any kind of tupperware/glass-equivalent does a much better job storing food, especially when it comes to leaks. And for microwaving, one of those $1 plate covers does a lot better than plastic wrap. They cover a much bigger area, and there's less chance of it drooping into the food while cooking.
posted by meowzilla at 11:42 AM on July 25, 2023 [5 favorites]

Oh, this is exciting. I hate using cling wrap, but also I'd like to have my foods not make messes or go bad. And making beeswax wraps can be a bit much if you have issues with executive function.
posted by tlwright at 12:35 PM on July 25, 2023

"The product is made from pelletised potato waste."

I swear I saw that photo and thought it was a tentacle.
posted by doctornemo at 2:48 PM on July 25, 2023

More seriously, good on them for inventing this!
posted by doctornemo at 2:49 PM on July 25, 2023 [1 favorite]