SoluBlue has developed a sustainable alternative to plastic and bioplastic food packaging, which extends shelf-life and reduces food waste. Finding an alternative to single-use plastic. Anna Watkins, a student at the University of Huddersfield in the UK, developed a seaweed based material that aims to replace materials like leather and plastic. The English start-up Notpla has created an edible, biodegradable alternative to the plastic from seaweed. Loliware is designed to entirely replace paper and plastic straws, both of which have a negative impact. Seaweed in manufacturing is already a burgeoning market. When I first came across Marea, an Icelandic startup developing a biodegradable packaging film from seaweed, I couldn't get over the incredibly diverse background of its founder—Julie Encausse. 4 Mins Read. Kelp shows a promising future in the packaging industry for several reasons: Seaweed proliferates: As a raw material, kelp proves simple to cultivate, growing up to 3 meters a day. Could seaweed be the solution to the world's plastic food packaging problems? Anna Watkins, a student at the University of Huddersfield in the UK, developed a seaweed based material that aims to replace materials like leather and plastic. ALTERNATIVE MATERIALS. Seaweed's biggest potential lies in disposable packaging. This is expected to reach 20 percent by 2050. Julie has lived, worked and studied in four countries, pivoting from marketing, brand management and film production to sustainability. The entire crop is ready to harvest within a little over a month, making the grow . Loliware's kelp-based plastic alternatives snag $6M seed round from eco-conscious investors. Environment. Seaweed is a valid alternative to plastic. From a pile of seaweed to a packet of soy sauce. Together they're constantly finding solutions for wasteful . Plastics Watch: Is seaweed packaging an alternative to plastic? An eco-friendly alternative to plastic. More than 30 startups are working on grown-from-the-sea bioplastics solutions, reports seaweed economy tracker Phyconomy. With plastic pollution and global warming at an all time high (I have the sweat marks to prove it), there is a rising demand for plastic alternatives. These substitutes are made entirely or partially from alternative materials, such as calcium carbonate or seaweed, which require less fossil fuel . Because it is so abundant, just 0.03% of the brown seaweed in the world could replace all the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles used every year. Ooho is a flexible, 100 per cent biodegradable container made from a type of seaweed that grows up to three metres per day. Why Seaweed Works. Spotted: US-based Loliware has created a waste-free alternative to traditional plastic or paper straws. 100% plastic-free, gluten-free, gelatin-free, BPA-free, non-GMO, all natural, non-toxic, safe . Loliware have designed cups and straws made from seaweed that are edible and totally biodegradable. Notpla is a London-based sustainable packaging company founded in 2014. Indonesia is also the world's biggest producer of red seaweed, a variety that's ideal for creating bio-plastics and packaging. Everyone knows plastic is bad for the environment. The algae alternative to plastic is not only an innovative idea, it is also creating jobs for ritual coastal farmers in Indonesia. Sway, which announced its first round of $2.5 million in funding Wednesday, has counterparts that are developing seaweed-based alternatives for single-use plastic like condiment packages and . Per Fast Company, current single serve options, including may tea bags, are made of plastic, and "a single bag can release as much as 11 billion microsize pieces of plastic and 3 billion nanosize particles into hot water.". Seaweed: An Alternative to Plastic Packaging. Enclose phrases in quotes. With more and more plastic ending up in landfill or in our oceans, companies are looking for greener alternatives. Edible cups made from seaweed. By creating a biodegradable seaweed plastic alternative, they are offering a wide range of companies with materials that can fully deteriorate in four to six weeks rather than the 20 to 500 years it takes a variety of plastics to fully break down. While new technological advances have blown the field of bioplastics wide open, seaweed holds the most promise due to its versatility and the sheer scale of current production. Feltwood has managed to raise $1.6 million (€1.4 million) to date. Example: +water -Europe In fact, seaweed can grow up to three meters per day. The global seaweed market was valued at more than $4 billion in 2017 and is estimated to pass $9 billion by 2024, about 90% of it E. cottonii. In Trondheim, researchers are cultivating algae seedlings and examining whether seaweed might have other environmental uses. Seaweed could be the solution for the reduction of plastic waste and environmental hazards. More than 30 startups are working on grown-from-the-sea bioplastics solutions, reports seaweed economy tracker Phyconomy. Good Advertising. And 70 percent of that waste comes from food and beverage packaging. Using an edible membrane made of seaweed extract, Skipping Rocks Lab is hoping their innovation will help ease the strain of plastic waste. One company in particular, Notpla, makes single-use containers out of seaweed including Ohoo, which is edible and can be used to package beverages and . One of the most promising alternatives to plastic is seaweed. If the resulting plastic is strong enough and can be created at a low enough cost on an industrial scale, biodegradable plastic could start replacing the more conventional kind to create shopping bags, straws, and . The EU-funded project SEABIOPLAS (Seaweeds from sustainable aquaculture as feedstock for biodegradable bioplastics) has developed a process to use seaweed as a novel base for bioplastics. Mumbai-based start-up Zerocircle is exploring alternatives to single-use plastics and has been shortlisted for the $1.2-million Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize. Packaging made from seaweed or mushroom mycelia could help the environment and . While PLA is only biodegradable in industrial composting plants, both paper and bioderived plastics like PLA and many other "plant-based" compostable alternatives could be major greenhouse . The 25-year-old says using seaweed instead of plastic could cut down plastic waste significantly. May 11, 2018. Published 2 October 2018. And it's hoping it could put a . 90 percent of the country's plastic ends up in the ocean. The fact is, plastic is a useful material with useful lightweight and durable properties. 28 January 2021. A startup called Loliware is thinking outside of the plastic box and introducing an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic straws. Over the past few months, three seaweed-based packaging companies from the US and Europe have announced . The seaweed project is part of DS Smith's . Inspired by peelable fruits (such as bananas and oranges), the idea is . "I looked at mycelium, Scobey, agricultural waste, and microalgae—and then seaweed." Other plastic alternatives fail to catch on for various reasons. She hopes this innovation will reduce the 300 million tons of plastic waste that humans produce each year. Close. Cost is a big one since no one will want to switch to anything more costly than the ever-affordable plastic. Seaweed is a globally abundant, renewable natural resource that's gaining traction as a biomass feedstock for making bioplastics. The country holds about 200.000 seaweed farmers and entire families get involved. is biodegradable in 4-6 weeks if not ingested and can even be flavored or colored. The aim of the project was to create a biomaterial to replace the often unsustainable materials used in fashion. The products are an alternative to plastic, wood, and other polluting and toxic industrial materials. The European seaweed industry alone is predicted to be worth almost £8 billion (US$11 billion) by 2030, generating some 115,000 jobs, according to DS Smith. Food storage containers and bags: Silicone bags, metal or glass containers. Products: Plastic-free straws in various colours. The aim of the project was to create a biomaterial to replace the often unsustainable materials used in fashion. Preferably . Jay Owen August 26, 2021 Reforming Global Finance, Resource Efficiency. Close. Shopping bags from cassava starch. This methodology is globally applicable to project activities that include the manufacture and sale of plastic substitutes that displace those made by conventional, petroleum-based plastics. While the starting point is water, the sphere can be filled with juices, sodas . In an industry first, DS Smith could use seaweed across its packaging network as an alternative fiber source to wood. Skipping Rock Labs has created an edible water pouch called " Ooho " to help minimize the use of one-time plastics. The global seaweed . Seaweed can be cultivated and harvested or even grown offshore and then combined with the microbe to create biodegradable plastic. Seaweed could be an alternative to plastic packaging for food and beverages. Out of the eight finalists, five make bioplastic or . All our products are made from renewable sources such as seaweed, cassava, rice, sugarcane or palm leaves, and we are always researching and developing new materials to innovate new circular solutions. And according to co-CEO Pierre-Yves Paslier, seaweed-based alternatives . Seaweed straws last 24 hours and fully break down in one week. Photo via shutterstock.com. Israeli discovery overcomes need for fertile soil and fresh water in the creation of eco-friendly bioplastics by using saltwater seaweed. Subsection Science . In Cebu, a 23-year-old a graduate of Bachelor in Science in Applied Physics graduate from the University of San Carlos named Denxybel Montinola is creating one of his own using local abundant resources: mango peel and seaweed. Glass and paper. The startup has created advanced packaging solutions made from seaweed as an alternative to single-use plastic. Plastic-free, seaweed-based straws. The company's packaging looks and feels like plastic, but is breathable and hydrophilic. Made out of seaweed, the material is bio digestible, making it safe for . Hence renewable sources like plants (corn, starch, rice, sweet potato, sugarcane), alternative source for plastic, because of its biodegradability, eco-friendly and edibility [22] [38]. In addition to these environmental benefits, creating and using seaweed plastic allows seaweed farmers' incomes and wellbeing to increase as well. . With Notpla, that number comes down to zero. Ooho looks like a futuristic water-filled orb protected by a thin jelly exterior. Read More. The main ingredient is powdered seaweed, often used as . The Notpla team is a combination of designers, engineers, chemists and entrepreneurs. Toyota's car is, of course, a concept: But it . In this podcast, I shared about: 1) Continental and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, working together on traceability of the natural rubber supply chain in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan in Borneo; 2) Six Senses partners U.S. In 2018 the London Marathon used over 919,000 plastic bottles. London-based start-up Notpla has come up with an alternative to single-use plastic in food and drink packaging. Liquid dish soap: Use a powder for the dishwasher and a bar for handwashing. Without using added fat or emulsifiers, the recipe is so simple that the shelf life of these crispy, moisture-free . A local government initiative to revive seaweed farming off Bali comes amid growing interest in the crop's promise to tackle environmental problems ranging from carbon emissions to plastic waste pollution. With plastic pollution a perpetual problem, the competition — a joint effort spearheaded by Tom Ford, oceans cleanup nonprofit Lonely Whale, and with collaborators like Nike, aims to unite and . Non Plastic Revolution . A levy of 5p on plastic bags in the UK in 2015 was met with a degree of scepticism due to the cost and inconvenience it created. Americans use between 170 and 390 million straws a day. Sinclair and Rush to mass-produce seaweed straw with a new Sea-Tech pellet as the foremost American Manufacturer to outsource plastic-free alternatives SAN FRANCISCO and NEW YORK, April 22, 2022 . With more and more plastic ending up in landfill or in our oceans, companies are looking for greener alternatives. The seaweed project is part of DS Smith's . The company, winner of the Beyond the Bag . It now seems to have brought with it a new awareness of . The main ingredient is powdered seaweed, often used as . Seaweed can be cultivated and harvested or even grown offshore and then combined with the microbe to create biodegradable plastic. So durable, that a plastic bottle can take up to 1000 years to decompose. This year it was included . The entire crop is ready to harvest within a little over a month, making the grow . Kelp, if you're not familiar, is a common type of aquatic algae (also called seaweed) that can . Currently, seaweed is used in products like food additives, fertilizers, and supplements—but as abundance grows, so might innovative uses. Cultivated at scale, seaweed can grow up to 60 times faster than land-based plants, making it an important carbon sink. Plastics and packaging made from renewable resources like biomass are a hot-commodity market . Kelp shows a promising future in the packaging industry for several reasons: Seaweed proliferates: As a raw material, kelp proves simple to cultivate, growing up to 3 meters a day. Tweet. Notpla is an innovative packaging solutions company based in the UK. Currently, most bio-plastics derive from terrestrial sources . Over 30,000 edible drinks capsules made from seaweed were handed out to runners at the London Marathon . . . Plastics and packaging made from renewable resources like biomass are a hot-commodity market . 00:01:24 Could this be an alternative to plastic? For instance, in Nusa Lembongan, southeast of Bali island, authorities are looking to employ 100 farmers for a program that hands out 0.8 hectares (2 acres) per farmer to grow seaweed. Turns out, seaweed makes great packaging. Seaweed-based plastic is an alternative, and brings the benefit of not consuming farm resources that may be better suited for food production. Kelpn are a New Zealand company using Kelp seaweed to develop a packaging alternative that is 100% compostable . Local governments have started to explore such solutions. Plastics Watch: Is seaweed packaging an alternative to plastic? DS Smith is aiming to use seaweed to replace wood fibers and plastic coating barriers. DS Smith is aiming to use seaweed to replace wood fibers and plastic coating barriers. In fact, the plastic industry accounts for about six percent of global oil consumption. This brand new packaging technology reduces carbon emission and plastic waste, while maintaining seashore cleanliness. The spherical membrane that holds the water is mostly made out of seaweed. Seaweed to Plastic. One of the most promising alternatives to plastic is seaweed. The European seaweed industry alone is predicted to be worth almost £8 billion (US$11 billion) by 2030, generating some 115,000 jobs, according to DS Smith. Glass and paper have long been alternatives to plastic in food packaging. Marathon organizers say the . While current packaging ideas focus on single use containers, it's already popping up around the globe. And its materials even come in a rainbow of colors. However, the underdog in the plastic alternative party is seaweed. Comparing plastic to its popular alternatives. Why Seaweed Works. Montinola's bioplastic is one of the researches featured at this year's Bank of the Philippine Islands Foundation . In 2019, the London Marathon introduced seaweed-based edible energy drinks "bubbles" that were given to runners as they competed, and the same company has been testing edible sauce sachets. Their packaging is made entirely from seaweed and it disappears naturally within days. To produce plastic, we need fossil fuels. Canadian environmentalists are cautiously optimistic about the use of seaweed as a plastic alternative. On that note, here are the sustainable alternatives to plastic already setting the pace for the future of food and beverage packaging: 1. Preferably . In 2019 the plan was to use a little over 700,000 plastic bottles and 200,000 edible seaweed pods. After initial testing, the company also is researching seaweed's potential . 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