Back to all friday 5
Friday 5
Plastic Sea-lutions
2 December, 2022
Today, Prince William, Shakira, Cate Blanchett, Sir David Attenborough, and Jack Ma will gather together. What will they talk about? One topic will be seaweed. Yes, seaweed.
That is because today is the annual Earthshot Prize awards ceremony, where Notpla, the seaweed alternative to plastic (and friend of Good Business), has been nominated for the “Building a waste-free world” Earthshot. The awards are a “Nobel-like prize for the environment”, with a star-studded judging panel, to incentivise solutions to climate change.
Could the solution to the global plastic packaging problem lie in the seas? Notpla believe so. It is totally natural, entirely biodegradable, and can be used to create a range of packaging products. At Good Business, we have worked with Notpla and our clients to find solutions for their packaging needs. This has included with Lucozade to provide their drinks in soluble seaweed pouches for the London Marathon, for seaweed-lined food boxes for Just Eat Takeaway, and tester pouches for Aesop beauty products.
And it doesn’t stop there. Farmed seaweed captures carbon twenty-times faster than trees, addressing a key cause of climate change. The packaging itself means less plastic clogging our seas. Meanwhile, seaweed farming create new opportunities for fishing communities.
Notpla is just at the beginning of its journey. There are new materials in development, with flexible films and rigid materials in the pipeline. These could one day replace single-use plastic packaging applications across various industries and at a global scale. We’re amazed by what can be done with seaweed, so if you’re grappling with removing single-use plastic from your products or business, do get in touch and we can challenge Notpla and the team to solve it.
Tune in to watch today at 17.30 on BBC One, or via the organiser’s YouTube channel. We’ll be cheering Notpla on. But seeing all the finalists’ incredible innovations to repair our planet, it’s clear to see they are all winners.
By Alice Railton