Natural materials, like banana leaves, can be good alternatives to plastic for everyday packaging use. The leaves are flexible and can be easily folded, making it perfect for packaging. They’re also big enough for wrapping large food items.
Banana leaves are waterproof, don’t leach any chemicals onto the food and once the customer is done with the packaging, the leaves are compostable, significantly reducing the need for single use plastics (CGTN).
Banana leaf-wrapped food isn’t something new in tropical countries, and not just in the rural areas. A supermarket chain in Vietnam uses banana leaves to wrap vegetables instead of single-use plastic (see picture – source: Plastic Pollutes). More of this, please!