Together, let’s reduce plastic

We all know the positives of getting rid of single-use packaging – but what does this cost us?

We all know the positives of getting rid of single-use packaging – but what does this cost us? Along with the rest of society, sweet gastronomy has increasingly adopted a relaxed attitude towards disposables, from plastic piping bags to plastic wrap, customer packaging to aprons. A lot of this is plastic but there are also large quantities of paper, card and foil, much of which is used once and then thrown away.

Although it’s often presented as a restriction, legislation about plastics can also be seen as an opportunity for you to provide your products a different way and make environmentalism a selling point. For those who want to do this, there are now several bakery packaging alternatives to single-use plastic products.

For items that can’t be replaced or removed, look for more sustainable materials that can be easily recycled. Alternative materials to look out for:
Bagasse (a by-product of the sugar cane industry) - Bamboo - Plant pulp - RPET (plastic that has recycled content) - Bioplastics – plastics made from plant based resources such as maize starch.

• Bagasse (a by-product of the sugar cane industry)
• Bamboo
• Plant pulp
• RPET (plastic that has recycled content)
• Bioplastics plastics made from plant based resources such as maize starch. 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - Paula STAKELUM

In 2018, the Ashford Castle hotel in Ireland pledged to remove all single-use plastics from its kitchens. Pastry chef Paula Stakelum (@paula_pastry) has gotten rid of all the plastic wrap and plastic piping bags the team once used routinely. To meet this commitment Paula went back to using cloth piping bags and also found reusable ones that can go in the dishwasher every night.  Thanks to this, Ashford Castle has saved 21,000 piping bags in a year!
Well done to them for making a great step forward!