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Comment by Animats | Hacker News Reader

Bagasse is widely used for making paper plates, clamshell containers, and other disposables.[1] Cheap, biodegradeable, and non-toxic. What's new here? Smoother texture, perhaps?

[1] https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Disposable-bagasse-bi...

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Bagasse is short fibers that absorb water and oil readily. Adding longer bamboo fibers seems to increase tolerance for both. The stuff that's out there now wouldn't hold near-boiling water for a minute much less 2 hours, which is their claim.

The temperuture of the coffee will drop quickly, so I wonder if it would not resist to water consistently heaten for 2 hours or if it will fall apart after 2 hours if it contained hot water (that would be bad if you forgot your coffee on your desk).

The current PE lined cups will also leak after some time. They are designed for immediate use, not as liquid storage containers. Most of them, especially the higher quality ones, will usually last a day or two before significantly leaking but not always. Don't leave one on your desk overnight, I've seen the messy results!

Bagasse is a long-fiber material, but the usual process for extracting sugar (wire brushes, crushing) leaves you with more of a powder. Longer fibers can be extracted, oriented, and used to make oriented strand board, which is like particleboard but with more tensile strength. Here's some research in Brazil on that.[1] Brazil being the world's largest produce of sugar cane residue, they have plenty of raw material to work with.

Probably good for making IKEA-type furniture even more cheaply.

[1] http://article.sapub.org/pdf/10.5923.j.ijme.20120204.04.pdf

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