These New 100% Recyclable Plates Are Made From Leaves

June 8, 2016

These 100% Recyclable Plates Are Made From Leaves

 

These plates are 100% made from leaves. Yes, you read that right, they’re made from leaves.

 

This is Pedram Zolgadri and Carolin Fiechter, and they created leaf republic, a company that creates fully recyclable plates out of plant leaves.

These 100% Recyclable Plates Are Made From Leaves


They started out with a vision to create outdoor tableware that’s as renewable and biodegradable as a leaf falling from a tree.

A few years ago, they started out in their living room testing the idea by taking leaves and pressing them together with a foot-powered stamping machine.


These 100% Recyclable Plates Are Made From Leaves


Once they came up with the process and idea for the design, they worked together with a team of people to bring it to life.


These 100% Recyclable Plates Are Made From Leaves


The next step was to create the molds for the plates using CAD (computer assisted design) and CNC machines. By creating molds that would go on a larger pressing machine, they would then be able to easily compress the leaves together, creating the plate designs.


These 100% Recyclable Plates Are Made From Leaves


Once the designs were finalized, it was then time to start making the plates and testing them.


These 100% Recyclable Plates Are Made From Leaves


Each plate is made from a group of leaves that are sewn together using fibers from palm leaves.

The plates are made by compressing three layers together, a bottom layer of leaves, a middle layer of paper made from leaves, and then a top layer of leaves.


These 100% Recyclable Plates Are Made From Leaves


Once pressed, the leaves (and the paper), are then made into the shape of a plate.


These 100% Recyclable Plates Are Made From Leaves


The end result is a plate that takes just 28 days to decompose.


These 100% Recyclable Plates Are Made From Leaves


And if you’re worried about whatever you’re serving on them leaking onto your hands, you don’t need to be, as they’re also waterproof.


These 100% Recyclable Plates Are Made From Leaves


Watch the video below to learn more, or visit their website here, or Kickstarter campaign, here.