How To Make Plastic From Seaweed | World Wide Waste | Business Insider

Summary

The video explores how startups are using seaweed as an eco-friendly alternative to plastic. Julia Marsh, founder of Sway, leads a company creating biodegradable films from seaweed to replace single-use plastics, focusing on hard-to-recycle items like retail bags. Seaweed, a fast-growing, renewable resource, can be farmed without harming ecosystems and even improves environmental health. Sway’s materials aim to compete with traditional plastics in cost and performance, with the potential to transform packaging industries. The video highlights the promise of seaweed-based solutions to combat plastic pollution and enhance sustainability.

Takeaways

• 🌊 Seaweed can be transformed into a biodegradable material similar to plastic wrap.
• 🌿 There are thousands of species of seaweed, some of which are highly flexible and see-through.
• 📈 Giant kelp, a type of seaweed, can grow up to 2 feet every day.
• 🔬 With chemical adjustments, slimy kelp can be made into clear sheets for packaging that can break down in compost.
• 🏭 Startups are developing seaweed-based alternatives to reduce plastic waste, especially for hard-to-recycle packaging.
• 💸 The challenge is to compete with the low cost of plastic while offering an eco-friendly option.
• 🌱 Julia Marsh founded Sway, a startup creating compostable replacements for single-use plastics, focusing on thin films.
• 🧪 Sway's process involves combining seaweed powder with sugars and starches, then casting it into a film.
• 🔄 The seaweed-based film is designed to degrade faster than traditional plastics but not as quickly as lettuce.
• 🌍 Seaweed farming can provide a sustainable source of raw material without harming the environment.
• 🌱 Seaweed farming can also help reverse ocean acidification and support biodiversity.
• 🏆 Sway is competing for the Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize, aiming to replace poly bags with their seaweed-based product.

Q & A

What is the main material being discussed in the script, and how is it used?

The main material discussed is seaweed, specifically kelp, which can be transformed into biodegradable plastic-like films. These films are used as an eco-friendly replacement for single-use plastics such as food wrappers and shopping bags.

Why is seaweed considered a good alternative to plastic for packaging?

Seaweed is considered a good alternative because it grows quickly, doesn't require fresh water, pesticides, or fertilizer, and can be harvested without killing the plant. Additionally, seaweed-based packaging can break down faster in compost compared to regular plastics.

How does the company Sway use seaweed to make biodegradable plastic films?

Sway processes seaweed by drying and powdering it. This powder is then mixed with water, sugars, and starches, and heated to create a gel-like material. The material is cast into films, which can be used as compostable packaging.

What are the advantages of using kelp in packaging over traditional plastic?

Kelp-based packaging is biodegradable, compostable, and does not contribute to ocean pollution like traditional plastic. It also supports regeneration of ecosystems, doesn't require freshwater or harmful chemicals for growth, and helps fight ocean acidification.

What problem does Sway aim to address with their seaweed-based packaging?

Sway aims to address the issue of plastic pollution, particularly from thin plastic films that are hard to recycle and often end up in the ocean, harming marine life. Their seaweed-based packaging is a sustainable alternative to reduce this waste.

How does Sway test the strength and durability of their seaweed packaging films?

Sway uses a laboratory setup to test the strength, stretchability, and durability of their films. This includes placing the material in a machine that stretches the film to measure how much force it can withstand.

What are some challenges Sway faces in producing seaweed-based packaging?

One challenge is achieving the right strength, stretchability, water resistance, and color so that the seaweed films can replace traditional plastics without requiring manufacturers to change their production processes. Additionally, they need to meet industry standards, especially for food packaging.

What potential benefits does seaweed farming offer to coastal communities?

Seaweed farming can provide climate-resilient employment opportunities for coastal communities affected by overfishing and climate change. It also contributes to ecosystem health by reversing ocean acidification and creating habitats for marine life.

How long does it take for Sway's seaweed-based packaging to decompose in compost bins?

Sway's seaweed-based packaging decomposes in under 48 days in industrial composting facilities. In home compost bins, it may take slightly longer, but still degrades faster than traditional plastics.

What is the goal of the Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize that Sway is competing for?

The Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize aims to award over $1 million to startups that can develop a viable replacement for poly bags, which are a significant source of plastic pollution. Sway is one of the finalists, with half of the competitors using seaweed as their primary material.

Outlines

00:00

🌊 Seaweed: The Future of Plastic?

The narrator introduces seaweed-based alternatives to plastic wrap. Seaweed can be transformed into a material that mimics plastic, capable of keeping products fresh and breaking down in compost. A startup in California is working to create biodegradable packaging from seaweed, and is focused on thin plastic films, which are harmful to marine life. Julia Marsh, founder of Sway, leads the effort to replace traditional plastics with seaweed products, sharing how her childhood connection to the ocean influenced her career shift from plastic packaging design.

05:01

🛍️ Fashion Industry Tackles Plastic Pollution

Retail and poly bags, widely used in the fashion industry, contribute significantly to marine pollution. Sway is testing its seaweed-based packaging with fashion brands and entered the Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize to replace poly bags. Julia Marsh explains the benefits of seaweed: it grows quickly, doesn’t need fresh water, and regenerates after harvesting. Farming seaweed, as seen in India, offers a sustainable solution for coastal communities affected by climate change. Seaweed farming can improve ecosystems, combat ocean acidification, and provide new economic opportunities.

Keywords

💡Seaweed

Seaweed is a type of marine plant, which the video highlights as a natural resource with potential to replace plastic in packaging. In the context of the video, seaweed, particularly kelp, is portrayed as an abundant and sustainable material that can be transformed into biodegradable films. This aligns with the main theme of finding eco-friendly solutions to reduce plastic waste.

💡Biodegradable

Biodegradable refers to materials that can decompose naturally through the action of living organisms, such as bacteria and fungi. In the video, seaweed-based films are described as biodegradable alternatives to plastic, capable of breaking down in compost bins and reducing environmental pollution. The video underscores the importance of developing packaging that decomposes more quickly than traditional plastics.

💡Kelp

Kelp is a type of fast-growing seaweed, specifically mentioned in the video as a material that can grow up to 2 feet per day. The video showcases how kelp can be processed into thin, flexible films, similar to plastic wrap, but environmentally friendly. Kelp is highlighted as a key resource for addressing plastic waste due to its fast growth and ability to regenerate after harvesting.

💡Compostable

Compostable materials are those that break down into natural elements in a composting environment, leaving no toxic residue. In the video, Sway’s seaweed-based films are tested for their ability to decompose in both industrial and home composting systems. These compostable materials provide a solution to the waste problem posed by single-use plastics, such as poly bags.

💡Poly bags

Poly bags are lightweight plastic bags commonly used in the fashion industry to keep clothing items clean during shipping. The video emphasizes that poly bags are a significant source of marine pollution. Startups like Sway aim to replace poly bags with seaweed-based alternatives, reducing the environmental impact of this ubiquitous packaging material.

💡Plastic waste

Plastic waste refers to discarded plastic materials that often end up in landfills or oceans, contributing to significant environmental damage. The video addresses how thin plastic films, such as shopping bags and food wrappers, make up a large portion of ocean plastic waste. By using seaweed to create biodegradable packaging, the goal is to reduce this form of pollution.

💡Sway

Sway is the startup featured in the video that develops compostable, seaweed-based alternatives to plastic packaging. Founded by Julia Marsh, the company focuses on creating sustainable films that mimic plastic but break down naturally. Sway’s mission is to encourage corporations and industries to adopt these eco-friendly materials to combat plastic waste.

💡Regeneration

Regeneration is the process of renewing or restoring natural systems, going beyond sustainability. In the video, Julia Marsh expresses her commitment to regeneration through the use of seaweed, which can regrow after harvesting and contribute to healthier ecosystems. This concept underscores the video’s message of designing materials that not only reduce harm but actively improve environmental conditions.

💡Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize

The Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize is a competition mentioned in the video that awards over $1 million to startups developing viable alternatives to single-use plastic poly bags. Sway is one of the finalists in this competition, and the prize represents a larger push toward incentivizing innovation in the bioplastics industry to address the global plastic waste crisis.

💡Sustainability

Sustainability refers to meeting current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs, typically by minimizing environmental impact. The video focuses on sustainability through the lens of replacing plastics with materials like seaweed that are abundant, renewable, and have minimal ecological footprint. The overarching goal of Sway and similar initiatives is to make packaging solutions that are sustainable in the long term.

Highlights

Seaweed-based material acts like plastic wrap but is biodegradable and compostable.

Giant kelp, a type of seaweed, can grow up to 2 feet per day, making it a highly renewable resource.

Startups worldwide are working on seaweed-based biodegradable packaging to replace plastic.

Sway, founded in 2020, creates compostable plastic alternatives, focusing on hard-to-recycle thin films.

Seaweed packaging could degrade faster than items like corn cobs but slower than lettuce.

Sway's seaweed-based films can be used in existing packaging equipment, allowing manufacturers to switch easily.

The team aims to replace retail and poly bags, which are major marine polluters.

Sway is conducting pilot tests with fashion brands to replace poly bags with their seaweed packaging.

Seaweed farms, rather than wild harvesting, ensure ecosystem balance while providing a sustainable resource.

Seaweed farming can provide climate-resilient jobs for coastal communities affected by overfishing and climate change.

Growing seaweed reverses ocean acidification and provides habitat for marine biodiversity.

Sway’s packaging decomposes in under 48 days in industrial composting and slightly longer in home compost bins.

Seaweed-based bioplastics can be more affordable than traditional plastics once scaled up.

Sway is testing how long their packaging takes to break down in ocean water to ensure marine safety.

The bioplastics market could be worth $46 billion by the end of the decade, with seaweed being a major contender.

Transcripts

Narrator: Once this goop cools and dries,

it'll look and act a lot like plastic wrap.

But it's made from seaweed.

Amanda: I don't think it would taste very good,

but you could eat it.

Narrator: There are thousands of known species

of this flexible, see-through plant.

You can see how far it stretches.

You can see how it resists.

Narrator: It also grows fast.

One type called giant kelp

can grow up to 2 feet every day.

With a few tweaks to its chemistry,

slimy kelp can form clear sheets

that keep products clean and fresh

and can break down in a compost bin.

Our materials will degrade

a little bit slower than lettuce

but faster than something like a corn cob.

Narrator: Startups around the world

are racing to transform seaweed

into a biodegradable replacement

for shopping bags, food wrappers,

and other hard-to-recycle packaging.

But can they compete with ultracheap plastic?

We visited California

to see how abundant ocean plants

could help fight worldwide waste.

Julia Marsh founded Sway in 2020.

It's a startup that designs compostable replacements

for single-use plastics.

Her work is focused on hard-to-recycle thin films.

These make up nearly half of the plastic

going into the ocean every year,

and marine life often confuses it for food.

Julia started her career as a packaging designer

but eventually realized she was adding to that problem.

Julia: Usually I was working with plastic,

and that really felt at odds with my upbringing

growing up in a place like this.

Narrator: She spent almost every morning

of her childhood poking around these tide pools.

Julia: We would always tide-pool and find little hermit crabs

and play jump rope with strands of kelp.

Narrator: Kelp and many other

types of seaweed thrive here.

Julia: People think of seaweed as being brown

and kind of slimy, and it smells bad,

but seaweed comes in all sorts of colors,

like an entire rainbow.

And usually, the browns are the ones that carry alginate,

and the reds are the ones that carry agar.

Narrator: Those ingredients are part of why

certain types of seaweed are slimy or squishy.

Julia: This is really simplified,

but that slime can be dried and powdered and re-jellified,

and that's how you create gels.

Narrator: That process starts at Sway's lab,

where the team tests out recipes.

Matthew: This laboratory setup here

is primarily for formulation development,

small-scale, as well as lab testing.

Narrator: The first ingredient is this white powder

sourced from processing centers,

which wash and dry seaweed.

It comes from inside the plant's cells.

Engineers here add that powder to water

and heat it up.

Matthew: It has a little bit of an ocean scent to it.

Narrator: Next, they'll add sugars

and starches from plants,

including coconut and wheat.

This batch also has plant-based green dye.

The last step is called casting.

Matthew: We're going to take our blended solution,

and we're going to cast it into a film.

Narrator: After about 10 seconds,

it's cool enough to peel off.

The team will cut this sheet into strips and run tests.

Matthew: We're going to put the specimen

inside of these two grips,

and with this foot pedal that's underneath here,

it'll close the grips.

Narrator: This machine tests how far the strip can stretch.

The goal is to make materials that look and act

just like regular plastic,

so when this gets out of the testing phase,

manufacturers can switch to seaweed packaging

without buying new equipment.

Julia: We're not asking individuals to make those choices.

We're asking the corporations

and the brands that are most responsible

for producing waste

to switch to our material.

Narrator: That means getting the strength,

stretch, water resistance, and color just right.

This type of film can be sealed with heat

just like a chip bag.

Amanda: And now there's a seal right up here.

Narrator: Julia says food wrappers are the next step,

but those have to meet strict industry standards

and often have multiple layers.

Right now, her sights are set on simpler plastic products,

like the ones used in the fashion industry.

Julia: Low-hanging fruit.

We're starting here because this is a huge problem globally.

Retail bags and poly bags

are some of the most pervasive polluters of marine systems.

Narrator: Poly bags are used at many steps

of fashion supply chains

to keep clothes pristine in transit.

Julia says some fashion brands are running pilot tests

with Sway packaging,

but didn't tell Insider which brands.

If those go well, it could be available to the public

sometime next year.

In 2021, Sway entered the competition

for the Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize,

which will award over $1 million

to startups that can find a viable replacement

for the poly bag.

Half of the eight finalists

make their products out of seaweed.

That's probably because it has a lot going for it.

Julia: It grows quickly.

You don't have to feed it anything.

You don't need pesticides or fertilizer.

No fresh water.

It's just growing.

Narrator: And you can harvest seaweed

without killing the plant.

Julia: You basically give it a haircut,

and then it regenerates.

Narrator: Of course, slicing off

tons of natural seaweed would disrupt ecosystems.

So the company works with seaweed farms.

This business in India isn't a Sway supplier,

but it showcases how simple farming seaweed can be

with just basic equipment.

Julia: We need to design

climate-resilient employment opportunities

for coastal communities that have been affected

by overfishing and climate change,

and seaweed farming is the perfect answer.

Narrator: And it can actually improve

natural surroundings, too.

Julia: While it's growing,

it's reversing the effects of ocean acidification

and providing habitat for biodiverse life.

Narrator: Julia says that idea

influenced her early design process.

Julia: I became obsessed with the concept of regeneration,

which is going a step beyond sustainability,

keeping things the way that they are,

and actually replenishing natural systems

and improving quality of life.

Narrator: Sway works with facilities like this one

to test whether its products are really compostable.

Julius says at places like this,

the packaging is gone in under 48 days.

In home compost bins,

it can take a few weeks longer.

And it can actually leave soil better off

than it was before by adding nutrients.

The company is still running tests

to see how long it would take to break down in ocean water.

Many types of bioplastic already exist.

The whole market could be worth

about $46 billion by the end of this decade.

Julia says because seaweed is affordable and abundant,

Sway's films can underprice the competition

once the company scales up.

For now, hearing from lots of other seaweed entrepreneurs

gives her hope.

Julia: I meet so many people my age, older, younger,

finding real solutions that actually can scale and scaling them.

So I feel hopeful, yeah,

even though I'm regularly confronted

with the intensity of the problem.

I feel hopeful, yeah.