REUSE, the edible food container. Forest&Whale

In the last 2 years, the Forest&Whale studio, a multidisciplinary design studio working on products, circular systems, and vision for the future, has collaborated with their sustainable research arm Reuse Lab, with the aim of reducing single-use plastic waste caused by food deliveries and take-away. The amount of waste generated by these activities has grown exponentially after Covid-19 forced cities into lockdowns, with food delivery being the only option to get a meal from outside our homes.

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The team approached this large and complex problem by exploring a range of solutions, from innovative natural materials to reusable and hybrid food container models – in fact, this typology of projects isn’t new to the world of Design. WeVux already talked about it with SCOBY, organic food packaging.

The result of Forest&Whale’s experimentation is Reuse, an edible container for food delivery and take-away. As part of the exploration in compostable and edible materials, Forest&Whale have used wheat husk for the base and PHA (bacteria-based composite) for the lid. The first is edible and can be composted as food waste without the need for any special infrastructure or industrial composting facility. The lid is not edible, but PHA can also be composted without any special facility, and if accidentally goes into the ocean, it will fully decompose within 1-3 months, without any microplastic left behind. Both wheat husk and PHA are produced by suppliers in Europe, respectively in Poland and Spain.

Forest&Whale has succeeded in developing a smart alternative to disposable (fresh) food containers. Maybe Reuse won’t change the world right away, but if everyone uses it, we would definitely make a difference!

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