In the landscape of sustainable innovation, Notpla stands out as a pioneering force, revolutionising the packaging industry with its seaweed-based solutions. From its humble beginnings to its current global influence, Notpla's journey showcases the power of inventive thinking and environmental commitment. By leveraging the natural properties of seaweed, they have created functional and biodegradable alternatives to plastic, reducing the environmental impact of single-use packaging.
Their innovative approach aligns with the growing consumer demand for sustainable products, pushing the industry towards more sustainable practices. From developments deep in the supply chain to real-world examples already in consumers’ hands, the evidence is there to see. London Packaging Week 2023 was a perfect showcase of it all, from brands walking the aisles to the exhibitors and speakers homing in on this topic. This included Notpla, who will be present again in 2024.
A complex challenge
Despite the progress already made to reduce plastic waste, the scale of the plastics crisis demands bold, systemic changes. Plastic production continues to grow due to its functionality and low cost, making it deeply ingrained in global supply chains. Transitioning to a low-plastic economy requires significant efforts from both brands and governments. Notpla is at the forefront of this transformation, advocating for fundamental production, consumption, and disposal shifts. Recent involvement in major events like the UEFA football finals highlight their growing impact on the environment and consumer habits, demonstrating the tangible benefits of adopting sustainable solutions.
Notpla's mission goes beyond creating products; it aims to catalyse a broader movement towards a circular economy free from plastic pollution. By fostering collaboration between companies, policymakers, and consumers, Notpla is driving the necessary systemic changes to address the plastics crisis. Their success story is an inspiring example of how innovative thinking and environmental consciousness can help set a new standard for the packaging industry and beyond.
"I think it's hugely complex to take those natural innovations outside of the lab and commercialise them at scale," said Pierre Paslier, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Notpla, when asked what the biggest challenge was. "We're very proud of having shown that it worked. It's possible. I think we're still very much on the journey, and I wouldn't say 'job done' for probably another few years and hundreds of millions of units being sold.
"I think that we're saying that sometimes the innovation may sound a bit like a pipe dream, just a way of moving the conversation away from all the other ways we have of reducing plastic pollution. But we get to show that we can invest in new integrated material that brands are following. Notpla’s journey from a nascent idea to a viable product has been nearly a decade in the making. Initially, there were numerous hurdles to overcome to make seaweed functional for packaging. The breakthrough came when they realised the importance of collaborating closely with existing manufacturers rather than building new factories.
"It's been 10 years from the beginning of an idea to then running and growing it, working out all of those challenges, and eventually having our brands be able to use these things that help," said Paslier. "I think there were a lot of things that needed resolving to be able to use it as a packaging material. Now we have something that works. Once you have that, it's all about working very closely with the manufacturer. We're not here to say, ‘Let's build a completely new set of factories’, rather we had the vision to retrofit our material into existing factories. If you imagine someone producing for the high demand of markets and telling them I want to come and try my material on their machine—it's not going to happen. It takes a little bit of a leap of faith and some real leadership from those industrial partners to say, 'Yes, let's go on that journey'. It's not going to work right away, but if you make it work, we will also be the first to get the benefits from knowing how to make this.
"I think half of the challenge is convincing those manufacturing partners. We must convince the brand to commit to trialling and staying with us while we resolve the issues because it's not for the faint-hearted. We need to work on it for a few years before it works, but when it does, it's exciting."
Vanishing act
In 2019, Notpla was established to make packaging disappear, embodying this vision with a name derived from "not plastic". The brand offers advanced, all-natural packaging solutions made from seaweed and plants, which are biodegradable and home-compostable, like fruit. Each product addresses specific plastic problems across various industries, including electronics, fashion, cosmetics, and food. Notpla's innovations span materials, proprietary manufacturing machines, techniques, and novel product designs.
By 2023, Notpla had gained significant recognition, winning the Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize and the £1 million Earthshot Prize in 2022 for the category "Build a Waste-Free World". Additionally, their seaweed paper was a finalist in the RCA inaugural Terra Carta competition.
The company was founded by Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez and Paslier, who met while studying Innovation Design Engineering at Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art in 2014.
"We didn't plan on becoming entrepreneurs,” said Paslier. “We're passionate about the innovation becoming real, and we saw that nowhere else had managed to take it from concept to commercialisation."
For Notpla’s co-founders, the drive behind their venture goes beyond traditional entrepreneurial goals. Unlike many entrepreneurs motivated by business growth and status, the pair are deeply focused on the environmental impact they can make. This purpose-driven approach has attracted a team of like-minded individuals, including industry veterans willing to leave secure, well-paid positions to join the mission of combating climate change. As purpose becomes a higher priority for more people, Notpla gains access to exceptional talent dedicated to their cause.
Paslier added: "I think other types of entrepreneurs—and I have nothing against them—are more excited about the idea of growing a business, growing a team, and bringing funding and all the status that goes with it. But for us, I think it's about the impact we can have. And I think that's really grounding. I also think that resonates with everyone in the team working on this with a huge purpose. I think it has made some people with 20 years of experience in the industry doing those well-paid jobs, with security, and working in something well known, embark on a journey with us. As more and more people choose or prioritise purpose over job security, I think it gives us access to some incredible talent that would otherwise be really hard to get."
Setting its sights
Notpla, a company dedicated to creating sustainable packaging solutions, has achieved significant milestones that have propelled its growth and bolstered its credibility. Their journey is marked by pivotal moments highlighting their impact on the sustainability landscape.
The recognition from the Earthshot Prize and recent validation in the Netherlands have been instrumental in the growth, establishing them as leaders in the fight against plastic waste. As they continue to innovate and expand, Notpla remains dedicated to making a lasting impact on the environment, inspiring others to prioritise sustainability in their practices.
"The big one has been winning the Earthshot prize," Paslier continued. "That was the moment when we felt hugely proud and humbled. It told us that people recognised that we had one of those solutions to really have an impact for the next decade on critical sustainability topics, so that's a huge emotional moment, but also a huge acceleration point because it comes with incredible visibility and support to the tune of a million pounds, which undoubtedly has accelerated growth.
"Another one that has been quite hard to get was last October when the Netherlands decided to implement a tax on security containers and reviewed what is on the market. They checked who contained plastic and who didn't. And what's been incredible is that after nine months where we must provide evidence of how our material works and why we are presenting this solution, what they eventually found was that we're the first and only solution on the market in the Netherlands not to contain plastic.
"So, all the greenwashing that happens, like in the composting space where people take some very liberal views on what is compostable and plant-based, when they were put under the same amount of scientific scrutiny they didn't stand up. And that was a huge validation for us that we were the real deal. It also proved to be a big deal because brands can now really trust us as plastic-free, and we can use it when speaking with buyers.
"I think it's one of the few innovations that has gone beyond concept in the industry for the last 20 years," said Paslier. "Why? Because people have been complacent with innovation and feel they can stretch their claims to make people feel like the job is done."
The significant milestones continue to come thick and fast. Notpla's groundbreaking packaging was utilised across four UEFA finals stadiums this year: Dublin, London, Bilbao, and Athens. The presence of the Notpla team at the Women's Champions League in Bilbao, where they attended a business session to showcase their solution to JET partners, underscored their dedication to sustainability. This initiative saw 300,000 Notpla containers in use, significantly reducing the impact of the events' emissions. Notpla food packaging offers a 70% CO2e reduction compared to traditional polypropylene (PP), preventing thousands of single-use plastics from being produced.
"Kudos to Just Eat for taking that risk and actually believing in the need for something more radical," Paslier added. "I think without that, we don't send the signals and are left with the same type of solutions again. We're super proud! It's been done very visibly. But behind the scenes we're making units available across Europe. So, we need to think about how to alter “business as usual”, rather than solely doing activations like this. We need to send the signal and do the real work, and I think this has been a great partnership that works on both fronts. Unfortunately, we're short of people; not all companies show this kind of leadership or we find they are looking for a quick win.
"But there are a few individuals in Just Eat that, from the beginning, identified that this is something they believe in. They want to change and are really moving the roads for us internally."
Pioneering packaging
The journey of Notpla, propelled by the transformative support of the Earthshot Prize, exemplifies the intersection of innovative sustainability and passionate dedication. By advancing their initial applications of seaweed-based coatings, Notpla has pioneered the development of sustainable alternatives to traditional plastics. Their most recent initiative—producing spoons for ice cream parlours—highlights the rapid iteration and development enabled by robust support networks and cutting-edge research.
"I think this is an exciting project, and a direct result of the support from the Earthshot Prize and the injection of capital that allowed us to go beyond our initial application focused on the coating and more flexible use of seaweed. This support enabled us to invest in more machinery and improve what was a very rough concept. Today, we aim to make spoons for ice cream parlours, replacing plastic versions. It's very exciting, showing that the iteration and development cycles are getting faster. You can get new materials out relatively quickly with a good support network. That's what Notpla aims to do—bring additional solutions to the catalogue.
“Another interesting development has been the ban on single-use plastic cutlery in the UK since October last year. While there's been a hard stop on physical bioplastic moulded products that do not respect the planet, we've also seen an increase in such products due to the lack of government enforcement. Legislation is great, but we need to hold the market accountable for change. It's easier once there are more alternatives on the market. We need to ensure the government enforces the existing laws because otherwise, hidden plastic will perpetuate the same problems as previous versions. We're just kicking the can down the road.
"It’s not an easy job, but we signed up for this, and there are plenty of other ways to make a living. The difference is that we’re making progress, which gives us the energy to wake up every morning and solve these problems. The wins feel much better when you're passionate about your work, especially after years of struggle. We need to leverage people’s passion and sense of urgency. The more microplastics in our ocean, the more they end up in microplankton and even in our blood. What we’re trying to do is very important.”
Notpla is unwavering in its commitment to reducing plastic waste through strategic collaborations with brands, manufacturers, and policymakers. They aim to produce sustainable products and instigate systemic changes, promoting a circular economy without plastic pollution. This will once again be in evidence during and at London Packaging Week 2024, taking place 11 & 12 September at ExCeL.
As they tackle the pervasive issue of microplastics, Notpla's efforts underscore the critical importance of combining scientific innovation with passionate advocacy to drive meaningful environmental change.
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