Replacing Plastic with Bamboo: Eco-Friendly Disposable Tableware Based on the Separation of Bamboo Fibers and the Reconstruction of Their Network Structure

Disposable bamboo fiber tableware is a novel type of product that utilizes sustainable, high-performance bamboo fiber to minimize plastic pollution. In this study, we developed a high utility bamboo fiber tableware product by employing a novel hybrid fiber-membrane strategy: We used a combination of steam explosion technology and mechanical refining to achieve the "up down" separation of bamboo. During the molding process, slender bamboo fibers mixed with starch were interwoven into a strong three-dimensional network structure, which resulted in the abundant formation of physical interwinding, fiber bridging, and hydrogen bonding. The above structural features conferred excellent strength, water resistance, oil resistance, better high and low-temperature resistance, a low content of dissolved substances, and the capacity for rapid degradation when compared with plastic and polylactic acid tableware. We conducted a product life cycle evaluation and found that replacing 20% of plastic tableware products with the bamboo fiber tableware product developed herein would be equal to reducing carbon emissions equivalent to 300,000 cars in a small city.