Meet Bagasse, The Super Hero of Sustainable Packaging
If you’ve gone for takeout recently and received your food in cardboard-like takeout boxes, then you may have met “bagasse” in real life. Many eco-friendly restaurants and companies are prioritizing sustainability within their single-use containers, choosing packaging that is made from environmentally-friendly materials. While bamboo is well-known for eco-friendly packages, bagasse is a lesser-known material.
What’s Bagasse?
Bagasse, also sometimes known as megass, comes from the sugar cane plant, and it’s the fiber that remains after the juice has been extracted. This abundant agricultural by-product is a plant fiber that decomposes naturally in the environment, and more than 54 million tons is produced annually. Bagasse, this sugar cane fiber, is chlorine-free, versatile, inexpensive, and compostable.
Industry Uses for Bagasse
Other industries use bagasse as a biofuel for heat, energy, and electricity production. Some countries rely on bagasse for paper production, and bagasse is also used in the production of furfural for chemical products such as nylons, solvents, and medicines. This dry pulpy fibrous material is ideal for creating compostable material for secondary and tertiary packaging, and it’s used in the production of press building boards, acoustical tiles, and other materials.
How Does Bagasse Benefit the Environment?
Bagasse benefits the environment for several reasons including that it has a lower carbon footprint. Since it is a byproduct of sugar cane, its lifespan includes a period where atmospheric carbon is captured and converted to biomass.
Packaging made with bagasse is often suitable to be recycled alongside cardboard. Be aware that food-stained cardboard or bagasse packaging cannot be recycled as it’s considered a contaminate. When you recycle, do your best to flatten all packages.
Sugar cane is renewable and widely available. While sugar cane is harvested and used for various sugar products, the leftover harvest waste of bagasse is being maximized for other uses to help create a circular economy.
Due to its plant waste status, bagasse is beautifully compostable, and in the right conditions, it can biodegrade in 30-90 days without toxic residue, and even provide nutrient-rich compost. This makes it ideal for all levels of packaging.
How does Golden Arrow Packaging Use Bagasse?
Bagasse and molded fiber often create a packaging style that is a pale muddied brown with an obvious fiber-look to the material. However, Golden Arrow Packaging has transformed the process to create a much more polished, seamless end product. The result is a truly luxurious packaging product made from bagasse and molded fiber that has consistent texture and coloring throughout with a stunning finish.
Advanced molded fiber technology with a structural blueprint ensures that every package is innovative, compostable, and functional. Golden Arrow works alongside clients to create a design that melds art and function in every piece. Ready to take the next step in your company’s packaging? Contact us today!