Often known as the ‘forests of the sea’, seaweed is a truly unsung ocean hero.
Dense thickets of seaweed create safe habitats for a huge variety of marine life, and its ability to remove planet-warming CO2 from our atmosphere and its emerging uses as an alternative to plastic means it has the potential to transform our world – both below and above sea level.
At a seaweed innovation showcase at Cardiff Metropolitan University today The Earthshot Prize Founder, Prince William, met businesses from around the world using seaweed in innovative new ways to repair our planet. The event also celebrated the important work Earthshot Prize Global Alliance partner WWF are doing to support the development of regenerative seaweed farming in Wales.
During the day, The Prince took the opportunity to reconnect with Pierre Paslier, CEO of 2022 Winner Notpla, and Sam Elsom, CEO of 2023 Finalist Sea Forest, whose solutions have seaweed at their heart, to catch up on their progress and hear their exciting plans to accelerate their work.
Notpla's plastic-alternative packaging made using seaweed
In the last year alone, Notpla has replaced more than 4 million units of single-use plastic packaging with their fully biodegradable alternative products made from seaweed. A recently announced new partnership with Levy UK & Ireland is expected to put 75 million Notpla items in the hands of eventgoers at over 50 venues around the country in the next three years.
Sea Forest, whose seaweed-based additive to animal feed can reduce methane emissions from livestock almost entirely, are also set to significantly scale their efforts. The company has just started working with the Tasmanian government and major dairy, Ashgrove Cheese, to produce milk from cows fed with their seaweed-based additive, SeaFeed. This collaboration will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but represents a fantastic opportunity to help existing industries, and the communities they support, become more sustainable.
Cultivating asparagopsis seaweed in Sea Forest's hatchery
Seeing the dedicated work of our Finalists and the huge potential of the wider seaweed sector is incredibly inspiring. It makes us more passionate than ever about speeding to scale the solutions that will change our world for the better.
Learn how Notpla are using seaweed to build a waste-free world and discover more about Sea Forest’s innovative seaweed-based livestock feed that’s helping to fix our climate.
