What makes us different? Read our Declaration of Journalistic Independence Home | About Natural News | Contact Us | Write for Natural News
Search our 25,000 free articles and special reports
sugar cane

Clever firm manufactures biodegradable paper plates from sugar cane waste fibers

Thursday, June 09, 2005 by: Mike Adams (see all articles by this author) | Key concepts: sugar cane, paper products and sugar

Want stories like this e-mailed to you? Click here for free email alerts

Email this article to a friend Printable Version

Personal Health Solutions from NaturalNews

Replace your toxic laundry detergent with natural laundry soap that grows on trees! (NEW source!)
This top "underground" natural health newsletter brings you amazing new natural cures each month. Save $100!
How to treat and cure over 100 health conditions using little-known health secrets
How to halt type-2 diabetes with nutritional therapy - over 50% cure rate proven in studies
End cravings with this guide to natural appetite suppressants (Download edition available.)
How to blend nutritious meals in minutes with Adams' Superfood smoothie recipes (Delicious!)
Breakthrough LED lighting technology prevents global warming, saves 90% on your lighting bill

Browse more health books...
Shop our eco-friendly products...

All sales help fund naturalnews operations.

Mike: I'm talking to Bret Chandler, nicknamed Buzz. He's the president of Asean Corporation, who are the makers of Stalk Market. Can you talk about these unique biodegradable paper and food packaging products?

Chandler: [Stalk Market] completely composts in your backyard; it doesn't have to go to a commercial composter. In your backyard or your flowerbed in about six weeks, depending on climatic conditions. On average, in six weeks. It's made from the waste fiber from the sugar cane refining process, when you make table sugar. Normally, this fiber was just burned in the fields, but now we source in Southeast Asia, where they are using this as a replacement for regular wood fibers and styrofoam.

We make it into a molded product, for disposable paper plates, bowls, pizza containers, and supermarket trays. It's very easily renewable; sugar cane is a tropical grass that renews itself about every 12 months for harvest, so we use zero wood pulp. So the trees that are in use can be diverted to more traditional uses, such as for forest or for long-term use like lumber products instead of easily disposed products.

Mike: How has it been received by customers?

Chandler: Very well. We have no plastics in it.

Mike: Tell us about its history.

Chandler: The grass itself goes back to the time of the ancient Egyptians, when it was used as paper. Then about 150 years ago, as people found that they could use wood fibers, and the technology came along to use soft wood fibers or hard wood fibers, it kind of disappeared for a while because of the economics. Now, especially in Southeast Asia and China, it's coming back very strong. China has enacted laws against what they call "light pollution" of products such as styrofoam. Manufacturers go out and find alternate products. This is one of them. This product has been on the market in Asia and in Europe for about 12 years. We produced all of the disposable containers and plates and everything for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, as the official supplier. That was the "Green" Olympics. So it's been around. For a variety of reasons, we only just brought it into the United States about a year ago.

Mike: Price wise, how does it compare?

Chandler: It costs about the same as regular paper products. It's not a premium-priced product at all.

Mike: Is that the initial attraction, then, the compost ability?

Chandler: The compost value and people realizing that, price wise, it's comparable to what we would call ordinary plastic-lined paper products now. We made a conscious decision to be price competitive with the more traditional products, because we felt that, in the past, too many of the newer technology products that are still coming on line, like some of the potato starch products, are pricing themselves too high. They're trying to get rich on their first sale, and that's not the way to do it. We're not getting rich, but we priced ourselves to be competitive with a normal paper product and, in some cases, cheaper. We also don't have any petroleum in our products

Mike: Is there a website that people can visit?

Chandler: http://www.stalkmarket.net

Mike: Do you have any other distribution points in the US?

Chandler: Yes, we currently have distribution up and down the West Coast, in Oregon, Washington, California. We'll get to Arizona soon. We can move into Idaho. We introduced the product to this show a year ago. Since then, we've been concentrating on just getting our warehousing and logistics in place on the West Coast before we try to push it throughout the United States. But we're moving out. Our products are compostable with wet garbage, so if your town, community or company has a wet garbage composting program, our products can go in just fine.

About the author: Mike Adams is a consumer health advocate with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, impacting the lives of millions of readers around the world who are experiencing phenomenal health benefits from reading his articles. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2007, Adams launched EcoLEDs, a maker of super bright LED light bulbs that are 1000% more energy efficient than incandescent lights. He's also a noted pioneer in the email marketing software industry, having been the first to launch an HTML email newsletter technology that has grown to become a standard in the industry. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and regularly pursues cycling, nature photography, Capoeira and Pilates.

Related Articles


Additional Resources:

sugar cane
paper products
sugar

Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com

Email this article to a friend

Share this article on: NewsVine | digg | del.icio.us

Permalink to this article: http://www.NaturalNews.com/008399.html

Reprinting this article: Non-commercial OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link.

Receive our Natural Health Newsletter for FREE

Subscribe now (it's free!) to win. We randomly choose a subscriber each month to send $100 in eco-home products or a RealGoods.com gift certificate (our choice). Plus, you'll receive FREE news, articles and action alerts from NaturalNews.com editors and join over 800,000 monthly readers who report extraordinary health improvements after becoming a subscriber!
  • Receive breaking news alerts on natural health solutions, renewable energy, the environment, global warming and more.
  • Receive a free instant download of our $29 Secret Sources guide that reveals top sources for little-known health and diet solutions.
Your Email Address:
Free Subscription Code:
Enter the numbers you see:
100% free of charge. Unsubscribe anytime.
Absolutely no spam. We respect your email privacy.

Recommended Special Report:

Seven Words that can Change the World
by Joseph R. Simonetta

Read this special report now...

"Seven Words That Can Change the World reveals the astonishing, simple truths that have the power to forever transform our world for the better while freeing our minds from the enslavement of limiting beliefs. This is not a text for the simple-minded; it is a guiding philosophy for the mindful, intelligent few who are wise enough to seek out -- and recognize -- the higher simplicities of truly purposeful living." - Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, editor of NaturalNews.com

More on NaturalNews.com:

Streaming Health Ranger Videos
CounterThink Cartoons
FREE Special Reports
Podcasts

Also Posted Today

NaturalNews Publishes Audio Interviews with Dr. Brian O'Leary, Dr. Stephen Sinatra and Byron Richards

28 Women Miscarry After Receiving Gardasil HPV Vaccination; FDA Not Concerned

The Many Environmental and Health Benefits of Hemp

Codex Designates GMOs as Contaminants in Food

Plant-Based Diets: An Overview of Options for Optimal Health

Beat Disease With Juice Feasting!

NEW 6-CD audio set reveals amazing new protocol for reversing cancer, diabetes, obesity, heart disease and more. Click to learn more.

Own Health Ranger Report Podcasts on Audio CD

Own the first 8 Health Ranger Report audio programs on 6 CDs. Covers weight loss, ADHD, vaccinations, processed meats, bone health and more. Click to learn more.

Featured Videos

Short clip on Aspartame
A short clip on aspartame from the documentary All Jacked Up.
Click here to view now...

Exclusive video on Aspartame
The dangers of aspartame! Exclusive interview footage from Cori Brackett of Sweet Remedy.
Click here to view now...

Exclusive Footage from All Jacked Up!
See interview footage featuring the Health Ranger in the upcoming junk food film, All Jacked Up.
Click here to view now...

Drug Ad Parody
See the Health Ranger's satire parody of Merck's cholesterol drug ad.
Click here to view now...

Free Health Reports!

Amazon Herb Company review
The pH Nutrition Guide to Acid / Alkaline Balance
Pet Food Ingredients Revealed! (shocking)
Medicine From Fish
The Water Cure
The Healing Power of Sunlight and Vitamin D

Featured CounterThink Cartoons

The Corn Ethanol Biofuels Sham


Feeding the young


Diabetes in America


Health Product Companies We Recommend

Read recommendations on supplement companies, health food manufacturers and personal care product makers that you can trust. Our 100% independent review list tells you who to trust and who to avoid in the natural health industry. Click to read.
This site is part of the Natural News Network © 2008 All Rights Reserved. Privacy | Terms All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing International, LTD. is not responsible for content written by contributing authors. Truth Publishing sells no health or nutritional products and earns no money from health product manufacturers or promoters. The information on this site is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice of any kind. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. Your use of this website indicates your agreement to these terms and those published here. All trademarks, registered trademarks and servicemarks mentioned on this site are the property of their respective owners.