Notpla is an innovative packaging solutions company based in the UK. Their packaging is made entirely from seaweed and it disappears naturally within days.
The Notpla team is a combination of designers, engineers, chemists and entrepreneurs. Together they’re constantly finding solutions for wasteful single use plastics.
Why is it called notpla?
PLA is “bio-plastic” or “compostable plastic” or sometimes even written as “biodegradeable plastic”—even though it does not compost, or biodegrade naturally. PLA is deceiving, it is complete greenwashing and confuses consumers into thinking that the packaging is somehow better than normal plastic…Yet it still takes over 500 years to decompose.
PLA is legally dubbed as compostable or biodegradable because it biodegrades in large industrial facilities at over 90°C heat, of course in nature this would only occur in the crater of the volcano. Therefore, we’re back to square one, nobody recycles plastic, and nobody recycles PLA.
Soo, we introduce you to: NOTPLA!
You might recognize their campaign Ooho that went viral in 2013. Ooho was a water packaging solution fully edible because it was made from seaweed. Since then the founders have attracted funding and set up other packaging solutions with the same material and changed the company name to Notpla.
Notpla Technology
Notpla is a revolutionary material made from seaweed and plants. Having heavily invested in R&D their machines turn brown seaweed into packaging for liquids.
Why seaweed?
Seaweed is one of nature’s most renewable resources. It grows up to 1m per day, it does require land, freshwater or fertiliser to grow and actually de-acidifies our oceans.
Manufacturing & Scaling
The main invention is also a bespoke manufacturing machine that produces Oohos sachets from 15-100ml. Their idea is to lease the machine, sell cartridges of the materials to food manufacturers, co-packers and event organizers, and enable them to contain their liquids themselves.
Currently, the machine is still in development.
Products:
- Oohos:
- for sports —water
- for cocktails
- Sachets
- for condiments and sauces: think ketchup from delivery companies
Future Products:
- Heat sealable films:
- From wrappers to packets of powders and dry food
- both water soluble or insoluble films depending on the application.
- Sachets
- Sachets for non food products such as screws, nails or hardware.
