Have your wrapping and eat it too

(Source: The Interita)

Packaging is the largest industrial sector for plastic, making up 36% of all plastic produced in 2015 (to see how this compares with other sectors, click here and go to page 16 - figure 1.2). Indonesia is the worlds second largest contributor to plastic pollution, much of which will be packaging (although we must remember that a lot of the western world's waste is/was sent to these countries so Indonesians aren't all to blame), with four of its rivers in the world's top 20 most polluted rivers with 90% of the country's waste flowing into the ocean. Luckily, Indonesian company 'Evoware' wants to change this, having developed a replacement to plastic packaging using seaweed. Check out their promotional video below:

As some of the seaweed wrapping will contain Dammar (a resin tapped from hardwood and coniferous trees common in East and Southeast Asia) which has been shown to have anti-bacterial properties keeping food fresh and thus helping Evoware's products have a shelf life of up to two years, locals will have an economical incentive to protect their forests from illegal/unsustainable logging. The process also encourages locals to maintain a healthy aquatic environment as the seaweed needs to grow in relatively clean environments.

(Source: Laughing Squid)

This wrapping can be eaten or disposed of, with the latter still benefiting the environment as it can act as a natural plant fertiliser, disintegrate in water and decompose in just 4-6 weeks weeks in normal waste disposal. It is therefore clear that compared with plastic, seaweed packaging is hugely beneficial.

However, since this wrapping is edible, it must be transported and packaged in very clean environments and once in the shop, the wrapping may be handled by many different hands before you decide to buy it. So it would be interesting to see how Evoware overcome this minor (compared to the long list of benefits) issue when scaling this product up. The wrapping may easily rupture, especially with liquid carrying pouches so a thicker coating is looking to be developed to avoid this. Also, as good an idea as this is, for it to truly take off, it must reach a stage where it's cheaper to produce than its plastic equivalent which, as mentioned in the previous post, is very dependent on the fluctuating price of oil.

(Source: Laughing Squid)

Overall, seaweed wrapping is a major progression from plastic packaging, not only due to its environmental benefits, but also because people don't need to change their behaviour which is arguably the main thing slowing environmental progress of any kind.

Top 5 seaweed benefits:

1. Seaweed cleans its own environment by balancing nitrogen levels in the water and as a result can counteract the nitrogen pollution from agricultural run-off.
2. Grows all-year-round and takes 6 weeks to cultivate.
3. It can grow very fast, up to 18% per day, 30-60x faster than land-based plants!
4. It sequesters 5x more carbon than the majority of land-based plants and so can act to fight against climate change.
5. Outside of the natural environment, it can be used as a possible treatment for Parkinson's disease, it lowers cholesterol, can detoxify carcinogens, fixes blood pressure, improves cardiovascular health, prevents disease... the list goes on.

Evoware are not the only company to be pioneering edible alternatives to plastic packaging, other companies include:

1. Bakey's in India who have made edible cutlery from millet flour.
2. Loliware in New York who have made edible cups and straws from agar seaweed and are looking to produce a full tableware and packaging range including edible water bottles.
3. Biotrem in Poland who use wheat bran to make edible tableware and cutlery, including plates and bowls.

(Source, clockwise from top left: Bakey's, Loliware, Material District)

Evoware and others are proving that the future for packaging and single-use items is looking positive. Whilst the cleanup operation of the plastics already in the environment must continue, movements towards reducing the amount of plastic at the source have been shown to work and are slowly being scaled up, with this just being the beginning.