On March 27, the European Parliament approved by a large majority, the end in the European Union from 2021, of single-use plastic products that pollute the oceans. This ban has not yet entered into force as individual initiatives are already flourishing in Saint-Martin to limit their consumption.
Several restaurateurs on both sides of the island obtain disposable biodegradable tableware by ordering directly from the United States or Europe, or by sourcing locally from merchants specializing in the sale of hotel and restaurant supplies such as ERPEG or CEOs who have started to expand their offer in this area. Some, like the Pocket Chef caterer (Cripple Gate) go even further by offering a reduction of one euro per dish to those who bring their own container. For a few months now, La Boîte à Thé has offered an alternative with untreated organic bamboo straws made in Bali, stamped with the name of the establishment ordering them. There is also now a company specializing in the marketing of biodegradable products for professionals in the restaurant and hotel industry. After working for several years on the island in the restoration and seeing the volume of plastic thrown in the trash, Sunita Mittal, 31, decided to start MyStraw Company. She offers a concrete alternative on the spot to these everyday objects that are goblets, straws, and take-out boxes and which the founder does not yet imagine the population ready to do without. For the moment, it sells straws, cutlery and plates made from vegetable fibers (sugar cane, banana) or PLA (polylactic acid), biobased polymer, obtained from potato. Soon, she will receive takeout boxes, picnic boxes for twenty-five people, compostable garbage bags and cups.
"These products are compostable and biodegradable, but that is of course not a reason to throw them on the ground," she says. They are made in India, her country of origin, but in the long term Sunita would like to be able to produce them locally "from the raw materials of the Antilles".
(More details on www.soualigapost.com)
7,138 total views
No comments