Sustainable Packaging Company Uses Seaweed to Replace Plastic

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The world generates around 350 to 360 million tonnes (385 to 397 million tons) of plastic waste each year, much of which ends up in landfills or, unfortunately, our oceans. However, one UK-based packaging company called Notpla found a solution within the same environment we’re polluting. It creates a 100% biodegradable alternative to plastic packaging made from seaweed.

Notpla co-founders Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez and Pierre Paslier began with a simple question: How can we package liquid in a way that works in harmony with nature, rather than against it? They looked at natural materials for inspiration, and discovered that seaweed had all of the qualities needed to create strong, durable packaging that didn’t harm the environment. They designed an edible water bubble called Ooho in 2013 that replaces plastic bottles and cups.

Ooho caught the attention of online food and delivery platform Just Eat. The company challenged Notpla to design an alternative to plastic takeaway boxes, which often contain chemicals called Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAs) or an invisible plastic layer to keep your food in place. They created food containers with 100% natural seaweed coating that’s grease-resistant, naturally biodegradable, and completely free from harmful PFAs. The entire packaging can be composted just like a fruit peel. And in 2025, Notpla also created the Notpla Pipette, a seaweed alternative to single-use plastic sachets designed to hold olive oils, honey, and syrup.

Notpla won the Innovation of the Year in the UK Packaging Award in 2022, as well as the Innovation Award from The Responsible Packaging Expo Awards in 2022. Plus, Gonzalez and Paslier were recently awarded €4 million (about $4.6 million) in funding from Horizon Europe to lead a three-year research and innovation project to develop a coffee cup with an all-natural compostable coating.

Notpla’s goal is to replace 1 billion units of single-use plastic by 2030, and it’s already making steady progress. So far, it’s replaced more than 41 million single-use plastic items, displacing 75 tonnes (roughly 83 tons) of plastic and avoiding 450 tonnes (496 tons) of CO₂e emissions. By turning to seaweed and plants, Notpla believes this approach can be scaled globally while remaining fully sustainable. Its projections suggest that replacing all single-use plastic with seaweed-based alternatives would require just 0.066% of the ocean’s plantlife—well within safe ecological boundaries.

“There are forests below the sea that are very dear to us. Seaweed grows quickly, and needs no freshwater, land, or fertilizer. It captures carbon and makes the surrounding waters less acidic,” says Notpla. “Beyond this, seaweed is abundantly available and has near-magical material properties. In the quest to heal our ecosystems and food chains from the toxic waste of plastic packaging, it is the perfect companion species and an integral partner to our solutions.”

You can find out even more about their projects on Notpla’s website.