Emirati entrepreneur carves out green cutlery business using fallen date palms
▶ Lamis Al Hashimy’s start-up Palmade, has dished up a local, eco-friendly solution to tackle single-use plastic
An Emirati entrepreneur is making use of fallen date palm tree leaves by converting them into eco-friendly cutlery.
After use, the cutlery made by Lamis Al Hashimy’s company, Palmade, can be composted and turned into fertiliser to nourish the growth of more trees.
This is just the start of her ambition to develop a range of products from the date palm to replace single-use plastic in the UAE and around the world.
At a factory in Dubai Investment Park, fibrous, sturdy leaves are ground to powder, converted into pellets and moulded into knives, forks, spoons, chopsticks and coffee stirrers.
The disposable cutlery looks and feels like plastic and is being used in hotels and supermarkets in the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait.
“I’m a mother of three and I wanted to create something my kids would learn from and be proud of,” Ms Al Hashimy, co-founder of Palmade Biodegradable Products, told The National.
“It’s eco-friendly, biodegradable, compostable and addresses a major problem.
“We are using material from an indigenous tree – there is value to be harnessed from discarded palm leaves.
“We are not cutting trees down but reusing leaves that otherwise get thrown away or burnt.
“With this, we can replace single-use plastic that is destroying our oceans, our land.”
Founded in 2019, the UAE company was launched during Expo 2020.
The company is in a partnership with Emaar, and teams collect leaves trimmed in Dubai communities to produce the disposable cutlery.
The cutlery is used in Emaar hotels, at food and beverage outlets during the Formula One Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi and Spinneys supermarkets. It was also widely used at food stalls during Cop28 in Dubai.
From manufacturing 10,000 units every two weeks, the factory now produces 70,000 daily pieces.
The aim is to build the business in the region and take the company to markets in Asia and Europe.
It took years of experimentation in her garage for Ms Al Hashimy, working with her husband, to find homegrown solutions.
They first began collecting date palm leaves near their Dubai home in 2014, turning them into paper bags and stationery. They then worked with academics and students at UAE University in Al Ain to create bioplastics.
“This can be moulded into different things and we use a material we have created by combining date palm leaves with plant biopolymers like extracts of sugar cane or soya beans,” Ms Al Hashimy said.
“This acts like a glue that binds the fibres of the leaves together to give strength and malleability to the cutlery.”
The company will soon add straws to its disposable collection as well as golf tees and hair clips in a bid to reduce single-use plastics.
The UAE imposed a nationwide ban on single-use plastic bags earlier this year.
The government also announced it would ban the importing of plastic cutlery, drinks cups and styrofoam from 2026.
The UN has said single-use plastics have led to an environmental disaster with up to 12 million tonnes of plastic swept into the oceans annually.
Microplastics are eaten by fish and enter the global food chain.
Ms Al Hashimy said more people need to understand that individual actions have far-reaching effects.
However, it has been a challenge convincing companies to move away from buying cheaper imported plastic cutlery – a plastic spoon typically costs 5 fils and a Palmade product is about 12 fils.
“People say what difference will I make, I’m just one person,” she said.
“This discounts individual efforts to make better choices.
“There are bottlenecks when I try to gain a new client because they compare us to plastic.
“I always say plastics are unfairly priced if you add what it does to the environment.
“There is an intrinsic value to shifting to a sustainable product and I believe customers now expect this of restaurants.”
Her husband and business partner, Yousuf Caires, said it is time companies make the call to move to locally available alternatives.
He said verifying that Palmade is eco-friendly is possible due to the stringent certification process in the UAE.
“We have the certificates – but above and beyond that, you can come to the factory so you know what you are buying is really sustainable,” said Mr Caires.
Building a product from the date palm tree is at the heart of the company’s story.
“People connect to the date palm whether or not they are Emirati,” Ms Al Hashimy said.
“Most of us have sat under the shade of the date palm or eaten from it.
“You can’t not be part of it having lived in the UAE. The big dream is to make other materials around the date palm tree and remove plastic that has a short lifespan. When people hear our journey, all this becomes relatable.”
The company will soon manufacture straws, golf tees and hair clips in its bid to reduce the amount of plastic products