2022 Earthshot Prize winner and industry disruptor Notpla has continued to scale up its seaweed-based packaging. While commercial success and innovation have advanced the company’s story, a pivotal decision by the Dutch government to declare its material ‘truly plastic-free’ is poised to open more doors. Andy Probert spoke to Hoa Doan, Head of Impact & Sustainability, to find out more.
solutions for packaging foods, drinks, care products and many other everyday items. While some are edible, some compostable and some dissolve in water - they all disappear back into nature without any harmful traces.”
Having created a family of regenerative packaging materials made from seaweed and plants, Notpla is tackling environmental issues on two fronts: denting the 6 billion tons of plastic waste dumped in our seas and promoting sustainable seaweed aquaculture.
ASour seas have become dumping grounds for plastic packaging, so Notpla has sought a solution from the sea. Notpla’s seaweed-based packaging is nature’s answer to a man-made problem. Notpla, which stands for ‘Not Plastic’, has revolutionised the single-use packaging space since Founders Pierre Paslier and Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez created its first product, the Ooho, a seaweed-based, edible water sachet.
“Our mission is to make packaging disappear,” Head of Impact & Sustainability Hoa Doan said. “Notpla provides true
Based in London, its 60-strong interdisciplinary team includes experts in material science, engineering, biology and bio-design. Notpla is supported by impact-driven investors and advisors, as well as being embedded in a larger ecosystem of sustainability-minded companies, climate initiatives and caring consumers.
From kitchen to global star
Pierre and Rodrigo studied Innovation Design Engineering and graduated with MScs from Imperial College, London. The germ of an idea began to form when they looked into using natural materials as packaging to replace the small plastic bottles that litter the world.
They discovered seaweed in its raw form could create a membrane that
would make bubbles for water. Prototypes were developed in their kitchens and the innovation culminated in the Founders receiving grant funding from Imperial College Incubator. This helped them create their first Ooho, an edible sachet for drinks and condiments. While initially making the bubbles by hand, they then focused on designing the first industrial Ooho machine.
Notpla went on to partner with Lucozade to replace single-use plastic cups and bottles with nearly 40,000 edible capsules containing liquid for runners at the 2019 London Marathon.
The Founders secured £10m in Series A funding to accelerate the scale-up of its portfolio. They launched Notpla Takeaway boxes with partner Just Eat Takeaway. com, to replace plastic at the 2022 UEFA Women’s EURO Final.
Notpla created a seaweed coating for cardboard food containers as an alternative to plastic-coated boxes. To date, Notpla has replaced over 9 million plastic-coated
containers with its seaweed-coated boxes in Europe.
All these initiatives led Notpla to become one of the winners of the 2022 Earthshot Prize to ‘Build a Waste-Free World’. Founded by Prince William and The Royal Foundation, it is the world’s most prestigious and ambitious environmental prize, with each winner awarded £1m. “The prize was a major milestone for Notpla and validation of how our products will be a game-changer for the packaging industry,” Ms Doan said.
2023 proved an exciting year, with Notpla doubling sales and production to four million seaweed-coated takeaway boxes.
Forward-thinking
The company now has a portfolio of six packaging products, including food containers, energy gel pods, pipettes, sachets, rigid packaging and seaweed paper.
Notpla has continued to set the pace on the commercial front. The company distributes to clients across Europe and has expanded into the USA. “We now supply independent restaurants, catering companies, big stadiums and events across Europe,” Ms Doan explained. “We hope to continue expanding in the UK, Europe and the US.”
Notpla has also been a packaging provider to major events, including the BRIT Awards and COP28. In other developments, Notpla was awarded a €1.3m grant to work with a partner to transform seaweed extracts into flexible film packaging. As an alternative replacement to plastic film,
Notpla has, in collaboration with Mack, launched an industry first – a sustainable clothes detergent sachet. Additionally, Notpla was awarded a £1m grant by Innovate UK to scale up production of the seaweed material for takeaway cutlery.
Available in pellet form, the material can be shaped into a variety of products, offering versatility in manufacturing. Ms Doan described how the company’s Rigid material is “an exciting addition to Notpla’s portfolio and offers a sustainable solution to support the global initiative to reduce plastic waste.”
Embracing change
The awards came shortly after October 2023, when the UK banned single-use plastics and amidst the staggering statistic that over 40 billion units of
plastic cutlery are annually produced. Notpla is ideally positioned to meet that gap in the market and respond to demand for alternative materials.
“We have ambitions to double our impact and replace eight million singleuse plastic items in 2024,” added Ms Doan. “Notpla’s impact is at the heart of what we do: raising awareness about the
problem we are solving, which is plastic pollution in packaging and educating stakeholders about the benefits of our products.”
Another boost came from the Dutch government’s environmental body, which after wide-scale testing of thousands of material solutions, declared Notpla’s seaweed-based packaging as the first material to be recognised as truly plasticfree. “This was a hugely pivotal moment for us,” Ms Doan said. “This sets Notpla apart and for the first time, a government has intervened to assess packaging materials to verify plastic-free claims in the market.”
However, the policy landscape remains complex and the need to raise awareness of the benefits of seaweed packaging as a new material category in the industry is ongoing.
“Notpla’s main aim is to continue working with brands that consider how they can replace plastic-based packaging with more sustainable materials, such as ours, which have a more positive environmental impact compared to plastics” Ms Doan reflected.
To that end, Notpla has initiated the Natural Polymers Group, a global consortium of biomaterial companies in the pack
aging industry to push for shared sustainability standards and legislation of harmful materials. The aim is to inspire businesses to adopt sustainable alternatives and advocate change.
“Notpla has demonstrated that its products are commercially viable and all its partnerships in the supply chain are aligned on shared values and ethics,”
Ms Doan said, in conclusion. “While 2023 was an amazing year, 2024 could be even more exciting for Notpla in driving the movement to replace plastics and see the industry adopt our sustainable packaging. Seaweed is truly the solution.” n
