Disposable Cutlery

Disposable Utensils: What You Need to Know

Traditional disposable cutlery sets available at KaTom include a plastic knife, fork, and spoon packaged with a napkin and salt and pepper packets. Plastic cutlery is the least environmentally friendly option available, but it's also the cheapest. While eat-in restaurants, ice cream parlors, informal catering operations, and cafeterias may choose disposable cutlery as a cost-saving option, other operators have no other efficient choice for offering cutlery to their customers. Food trucks and carryout services offer diners on-the-go meals that require utensils they can take with them. Outdoor events or food courts with a common seating area increase the difficulty of reclaiming traditional utensils, making disposable cutlery the only viable option.

Common Questions About Disposable Cutlery

What can I use instead of plastic utensils?

Although plastic is generally the cheapest and most popular option for single-use utensils, KaTom offers two affordable alternatives to disposable plastic utensils:

• Wood: Disposable wooden cutlery, most often made of pinewood and bamboo, offers users an eco-friendly disposable cutlery choice that decomposes much faster than plastic. Wooden utensils are more durable than plastic and are generally microwave and oven safe. Wooden forks, knives, and spoons provide a disposable option that's often biodegradable and compostable. These can offer operations a step up from plastic without breaking the budget.
• Recyclable stainless steel: Although it isn't disposable in the usual sense, disposable cutlery made of stainless steel is heavier and more durable than other options you'll find here while still being lighter than traditional flatware. This option is ideal for operators who desire a more refined carryout or catering experience with the option to dispose of the utensils by recycling them. In operations that are able to reclaim their flatware after each use, operators may choose to wash and reuse them instead. Recyclable stainless steel utensils are more expensive than wood or plastic but significantly cheaper than traditional flatware.

What size and types of utensils are available?

Operators can choose from utensils ranging from full size at 6¹⁄₂ inches long to miniature forks, sporks, and spoons that are under 4 inches long, ideal for offering food samples. Food truck and concessions operators may choose a small two-pronged fork, spork, or spoon. Stainless bouillon spoons ideal for vendors serving soup and miniature wooden ice cream spoons are also available. KaTom offers traditional utensils packaged individually or in sets of knives, forks, and spoons.

Why should I use biodegradable utensils?

Biodegradable products decompose when exposed to bacteria or other organisms, making them gentler on the environment in the long run. Disposable wooden cutlery is compostable in as little as 90 days. Because plastic utensils can end up affecting wildlife if not disposed of properly – and will sit in a landfill for 100 years before beginning to break down, if they make it that far – disposable wooden spoons and forks are a popular choice among environmentally conscious operations.

Is it safe to reuse plastic utensils?

Disposable utensils typically aren't designed for reuse. Although thrifty end users may choose to wash and reuse plastic utensils a few times in their home, truly disposable cutlery should never be reused within an operation because it can't be safely sanitized. An exception to this is utensils made of lightweight stainless steel, which operators may wash and reuse repeatedly before they're recycled rather than thrown in the trash.