Frequently Asked Questions
What are "renewable resources"? Renewable resources replenish themselves quickly and naturally. They include corn, sugar cane and bamboo. Solo's Bare plates are made with bamboo, which is an annually renewable resource.
What exactly is bamboo? Bamboo is a woody perennial evergreen plant that is among the fastest growing in the world. Due to its unique biology, it can grow 3-4 feet in one day and is in abundant supply in East and Southeast Asia. Bamboo's short fibers make for an exceptionally durable material that can even be used for construction of houses, bridges, fences and furniture.
Are Bare™ by Solo® bamboo plates recyclable? For the safety of consumers, any plate or bowl that has absorbed food material usually will not be recycled due to the difficulty of cleaning the material for reuse in the recycling process. Bamboo plates that have not absorbed any food material may be recyclable in some communities. Please check with your local recycling authorities to see what materials are accepted in your community.
Are Bare™ by Solo® clear cups recyclable? Our Bare clear cups are made using both post-consumer recycled and virgin polyethylene terephthalate (PET) which are readily accepted by recycling authorities in most communities. However, PET may not be recyclable in your particular community. Check with your local recycling authorities to learn what is possible in your area today. The recycling code for PET is SPI sorting code 1.
Why are Bare™ bamboo plates brown? We chose not to use a bleaching process necessary to create "white" plates in order to minimize resources used in the creation of our product. You may notice color variations in our product from time to time which is reflective of bamboo pulp's own natural color variation.
What does it mean to be "made with 20% post-consumer recycled material"? Instead of creating all of the materials from scratch in making our Bare cups, 20% came from pre-existing materials that consumers added to the stream of recycled products through their own efforts. This "post-consumer" material contained in our Bare cups may have come from products such as used water bottles that consumers like you have recycled in the past.
What does eco-forward™ mean? Eco-forward™ is unique to Solo and expresses our ongoing commitment to seek out, develop and offer alternative materials in an effort to contribute to a positive environmental future for our society. Solo continually strives to provide consumers with alternative choices to meet their convenience tableware needs.
Why is Bare™ by Solo® working with Keep America Beautiful®? Partnering with Keep America Beautiful is a natural fit for Bare by Solo. Keep America Beautiful has been working for more than 50 years to help protect our environment. Established in 1953, Keep America Beautiful combines education with hands-on stewardship to make America's communities cleaner, greener, safer, and more livable. The organization offers sustainable solutions that improve the physical and visual aspects of communities by focusing on issues of litter prevention, waste reduction/recycling, and community beautification.
How can I get involved with Keep America Beautiful®? You can check out www.kab.org. Through its network of nearly 1,000 affiliates and participating organizations, including 21 statewide organizations, Keep America Beautiful leads the way in protecting and enhancing local environments in more than 15,000 communities.
Are the rest of Solo's products recyclable? The ability to recycle a specific single-use product is dependent upon local municipalities and the recycling methods available to them. Check with your local recycling authorities to learn what is possible in your area today.
Municipalities make the decisions about what they will and will not recycle, and most can accommodate only the simplest materials today. We believe that as consumers demand more recycling options, it will help spur development of the right infrastructure in communities across the country.
Can purchasing and using single-use foodservice items really be part of a green lifestyle? Yes. Solo products deliver sanitation, convenience, portability, ability to manufacture products cost effectively on a mass scale, and flexibility in packaging. Certain Solo products also offer recyclability, use of renewable resource materials or both. The answer to which product or material is better depends on each customer or consumer's unique needs and their own personal definition of "environmentally friendly."
What else is Solo doing as a company to be environmentally responsible or sustainable? Achieving sustainability is a collaborative process. We are working with our suppliers to develop sustainable materials and with our customers to identify sustainable options that will work well for their businesses. At the same time, we are striving to ensure our own manufacturing and distribution processes are efficient and responsible. To learn more about Solo's sustainability initiative click here.
Why doesn't Solo replace all of its products with environmental options? We continually test new materials and work with our customers to find sustainable solutions. However, there are many reasons why this is not a viable option today. First, because Solo products are used to serve foods and beverages, they are subject to FDA regulations. Recycled content and renewable resource materials are relatively new in the disposable foodservice industry. It takes many years to research and test new materials to ensure they meet both FDA regulations and our own high standards for product performance and quality.
Second, the raw material required is still in limited supply, both because it is new and still under development and because the market for these products is not yet fully defined. These factors not only make it difficult to guarantee supply, they also increase prices from raw material all the way through the production process.