Newlight Technologies, and Gelson’s, a Southern California supermarket chain, have announced the launch of a range of cutlery made from AirCarbon, a high-performing plastic replacement. The new line of disposable flatware includes 24 count packs of forks, spoons, knives, mixed utensils, and a 50 count pack of straws.
AirCarbon uses a process inspired by nature that takes methane emitted from places like landfills and transforms it into Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), which then gets turned into plastic-like pellets that you can melt and form into durable products like sunglass frames and eating utensils. AirCarbon is also compostable and biodegradable.
The AirCarbon cutlery packaging is kept simple and focused on the environmental attributes of the PHB-based product. The blue wordmark is pleasant against the white background, the front of the boxes has a picture of the product inside, and there’s no plastic window, of course, something all-too-common with a lot of disposable utensil packaging. Copy focuses on affirming AirCarbon instead of traditional plastic products, with phrases like “can 50 straws change the world?”
“We believe we must end the flow of plastics into the ocean in this generation,” said Mark Herrema, CEO of Newlight, in a press release. “For us, that means making sustainable products that people love and that also work for the environment. This launch is the culmination of over 18 years of hard work by many dedicated people, and we couldn’t be more excited to launch with Gelson’s as a partner.”
