Community

How we make our products

Potatoes, on their journey from spud farm to French Fry, are blasted with water, washed, scrubbed, and at 120kph, pushed through a tube fitted with a series of knives. The waste water from this is full of starch from the cut surfaces of the Potatoes. The starch is extracted and in doing so it returns clean water to be reused by the Potato processor, and dried Potato starch to be used by us in the making of our Trays and Plates!

Once we receive the dried starch, we process it in a high-speed pressure thermoforming machine that inserts the powdered starch between a set of moulds of the desired shape that we want to make. The mould closes and the starch is pressurised and 'cooked' into the rigid and strong shape. An automated handling system then extracts the tray ready for the next cycle.

Only a very small amount of waste product is produced by us. All of this waste is given to the local Pig Farmer for consumption by his livestock!

The helix of sustainability


Why the helix?
It's a helix because, unlike recycling of fossil origin materials if we work with sustainable, crop origin materials it is not necessary to return wares to a point of origin to make the system work.

The leaves that fall from a tree don't have to be gathered up and be trucked to a special leaf scrapyard for cleaning, sorting and reprocessing. If we are to minimise the bad effects of our lifestyle on our environment, the way people use materials should follow the existing practices of the rest of nature as closely as possible.

Helix of Sustainability

Plants grow making sugars, starches, oils, cellulose and complex molecules from simple raw materials, mostly water, CO2 and sunshine.

In addition to harvesting food, people extract fuel and base materials for industry and commerce.

Manufacturers make wares, measuring profitability in environmental and social terms as well as financial.

The end user reuses and repairs, only recycling after as long a useful life as possible.

At the end of its life the article decays, reducing large complex molecules to simple raw materials by the action of bacteria and fungi - composting.

Plants grow making sugars, starches, oils, cellulose and complex molecules from simple raw materials, mostly water, CO2 and sunshine.

 

Check out our Possum Bait Stations

Possum Bait Station


I'd love to hear your stories and comments

Potatopak for me is as much a labour of love as it is a business. Every time someone uses our products I feel validated for all the efforts, not just on my part, but by all the Potatopak team and our shareholders.

Please email me any comments, stories or suggestions you have to Richard@potatoplates.com . As we develop our website further we will be able to tell you more about our story and someof the exciting developments we have coming up.

Also follow us on twitter.com/potatopak.

Regards 

 

 

 

 

Richard Williams