Notpla’s Disappearing Packaging
One of the Top 20 Most Influential Projects of 2024
For reinventing food packaging through the power of plants
Region: Global Sector: Consumer Goods UN SDGs: 12, Responsible Consumption and Production; 14: Life Below Water
Consider this single sobering statistic: plastic in the ocean is projected to outweigh fish by 2050. Plastic takes thousands of years to break down, if it ever does, and leaves behind toxic chemicals in the form of microplastics, which are increasingly tied to poor health outcomes in people and animals. Plastic’s presence in consumer products — from water bottles to food packaging — is so widespread that most people don’t even think about it. And if they do, it’s hard to avoid buying plastic-free products because there are few alternatives, and even fewer that are available at scale and at a price point that is accessible to the average person.
Notpla, a play on the phrase “Not Plastic,” seeks to introduce that alternative and make it as common, if not more so, than plastic. The company develops biodegradable film packaging that can be used in a wide range of applications: think, for example, of the thin film that covers a microwavable frozen dinner or a to-go cup of boba tea. “Disappearing Packaging” is the slogan of the company, which is relying on an unexpected natural resource as its core raw material: seaweed.
“There are forests below the sea that are very dear to us,” the company says, noting that seaweed is an attractive plastic replacement in food applications because it is “near-magical.” Seaweed grows fast and doesn’t require cultivation techniques, such as fertilizer, to spur its development. These two properties alone make it an abundant, quickly renewable product. But there’s a bonus — seaweed also sequesters carbon, making the surrounding waters less acidic.
And those benefits are the ones that the company observed even before the material is turned into food packaging. Once the seaweed hit Notpla’s research and development laboratory, the company noticed even more advantages of seaweed compared to plastic. One notable characteristic? Seaweed is entirely biodegradable without any human intervention. In some uses, the packaging itself can even be edible. “This innovative solution offers a sustainable alternative to single-use plastic packaging,” the company notes.

In 2023, Notpla took a leap from the lab to the market, determining that the seaweed-based film packaging is a scalable, biodegradable plastic alternative. The results of the R&D phase were so compelling that the company was awarded the Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize, whose judges looked at four key factors in assessing plastic alternatives innovation. Does the material degrade in soil and water after it has fulfilled its purpose? Does the material minimize negative environmental and social impacts during and as a result of production? Does the product meet industry performance standards? And, can the solution be scaled? Notpla ticked all four boxes.
The R&D milestone and the award allowed the company to embark on a new project in 2023: using seaweed at scale for single-use sachet condiments, such as the ketchup, mustard, or mayonnaise that comes with your meal at a fast food restaurant, and clamshell-type packaging for hamburgers and other to-go meals. But making a viable product is just one step; it has to be followed by adoption and market penetration.
To that end, the company committed to expanding commercial partnerships so that the seaweed film packaging could reach a wider public. The 2023 project involved partnering with Just Eat, an online food order and delivery company akin to Uber Eats, in Spain and Belgium, raising its visibility in the consumer market. Notpla also introduced its packaging via concessionaires at sporting events through a partnership with Levy UK + Ireland. Ultimately, this will result in Levy introducing approximately 75 million of Notpla’s seaweed-based food packaging materials to over 50 sporting and event venues. The company’s hope is that after experiencing its plastic-alternative packaging, consumers will demand greater adoption and application of the Notpla seaweed film.
They say the benefits of such adoption are clear. In 2023, Notpla avoided 250 tons of CO2 and replaced 4.4 million tons of single-use plastic. Its packaging is the first and only material worldwide to have been recognized as being plastic-free under the European Single Use Plastics Directive. “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,” the company says.