Our thinking

Seaweed packaging

4 April, 2025

Like most sustainably conscious individuals, we at Good Business take pride in recycling as much as we can – rinsing our tins, plastic trays and glass bottle to give them their best shot at avoiding landfill. Yet despite our best intentions, flexible plastic films continue to thwart our efforts, regularly used in packaging but rarely collected in household recycling.  

But could seaweed be the hero we’ve been waiting for? 

Noriware is a Swiss startup creating fully compostable, seaweed-based packaging films designed to disappear without a trace. Available as both film and pellets, Noriware’s material can be used across various manufacturing processes and applications, including plastic-free wraps, packaging windows and rolls, making the switch to nature-based packaging easier for all.  

The ocean grown packaging looks, feels and acts like plastic, but unlike its fossil fuel-based counterpart it contains no toxic additives, no microplastics and doesn’t take centuries to break down (just 12 weeks in an industrial composting facility). By working with trusted partners with a shared commitment to sustainability and innovation – such as regenerative seaweed cultivators – Noriware is able to scale responsibly while sticking to its values. 

Although seaweed packaging isn’t new – our friends at Notpla have been doing this since 2014 and boast major partners like Just Eat and Lucozade – Noriware’s flexible film could be the missing piece of puzzle, making plastic-free alternatives for packaging types that have historically been the hardest to recycle. 

By Nia Vines