A Coalition of Companies is Replacing Thin-Film Plastic With Seaweed

A coalition of top brands, innovators, investors and organizations is promoting alternatives to harmful thin-film plastics, a major source of pollution leeching into the world’s oceans.

The initiative stems from the Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Accelerator, named after the fashion designer Tom Ford and powered by the plastic waste reduction nonprofit Lonely Whale.

“Nearly half of all new plastic waste entering the ocean each year comes from one ubiquitous source: thin-film plastic made from fossil fuels,” Emy Kane, managing director at Lonely Whale, told TriplePundit. “These flexible films are not readily degradable and are difficult to recycle. They can often end up in the ocean, where they can be ingested by sea life and generate microplastics as they fragment.”

The accelerator is phase two of Unwrap the Future, a three-phase, multi-year program to vet and scale biologically degradable alternatives to traditional thin-film plastic. The year-long accelerator aimed to raise awareness of the negative impact of traditional thin-film plastic and advance the adoption of seaweed-based alternatives. A key component of the program is the coalition of 19 early adopter brands, Kane said. They were curated and convened by Lonely Whale for their commitment to attempting pilots and trials of the thin-film alternatives. 

The seaweed-based films were selected in phase one of the program: a global competition called the Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize powered by Lonely Whale. The winners were America-based Sway, India-based Zerocircle and London-based Notpla. 

“Innovation prizes have incentivized large-scale problem-solving for over 300 years so it was a natural choice for this to be our method of finding a solution,” Kane said. 

More than half of the early adopter brands have launched a trial with one or more winners, providing crucial insights to help scale the new materials and drive demand, she said.

The home furnishings company MillerKnoll is performing performance tests on Sway’s materials to assess their suitability for various applications. The snowboard and gear company Burton is evaluating materials from Sway and Zerocircle under different temperature and humidity conditions typical in supply chains, aiming to replace plastic shrink film and kraft paper sleeves. And the designer clothing label Stella McCartney is trialing Notpla’s film with its Italian poly bag supplier in hopes of replacing its existing poly bag materials.

Some companies are already using the new packaging. The running and cycling store Le Club overcame past challenges with thin-film alternatives by adopting Sway’s seaweed packaging. The sports equipment brand Florence and the men’s clothing brand Noah both used Sway’s packaging for limited-edition product launches.

 

 

 

 

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One of the biggest challenges against the large-scale adoption of plastic alternatives is that supply chains are highly optimized around the processes and materials already in use, Kane told 3p. Introducing new variables, such as alternative materials, creates new problems to solve. Cost is also a consideration. 

“Fossil fuel-based plastics have been engineered over many decades as low-cost and high-performance materials,” Kane said. “However, these costs do not include the numerous negative externalities generated by the production and use of fossil-fuel-based plastics, most notably impacts on climate and human health. Startups providing alternatives must navigate this cost dynamic while also optimizing and refining their materials.”

Time is also a major challenge for biomaterial innovators, she said. 

“From longer lead times to the capital expenditures required for product development and corporate investment required to reach scale, adoption of alternatives to traditional plastics can often take multiple years to see through,” Kane said. 

Though the project has concluded, the work continues, Kane added. Lonely Whale will maintain its support for the early adopter brands and phase one winners to ensure continued success. 

The nonprofit’s digital community expressed excitement at every milestone of this program. That’s an indication of an appetite for innovation “that doesn’t just inspire, but that also helps to shift the market,” Kane said. “Whether in conversation, convening or through content, when we showcase the prize winners' materials the resounding response is, ‘When will I be able to buy something wrapped in a seaweed-derived plastic alternative?’” 

Consumers have an immense role to play in driving the adoption of these materials, she said. 

“When brands know what their consumers want, they are encouraged to source solutions,”  Kane said. “Even though consumers might not be able to opt-in to receive a product packaged in seaweed-derived packaging right now, they can make their interest heard.”