PA Consulting joins forces with Searo Labs to scale seaweed-based packaging products

22 Aug 2024 --- PA Consulting (PA), an innovation and transformation consultancy, is collaborating with sustainable materials company Searo Labs to develop and scale seaweed-based products, offering eco-friendly alternatives to plastic and single-use packaging.

The collaboration aims to accelerate the adoption of seaweed-based materials in consumer products and packaging within the food, personal care and home care sectors. These eco-friendly solutions are poised to reduce the reliance on single-use plastics and the exposure to PFAS chemicals. 

Searo Labs, which brings its proprietary seaweed-based technology to the partnership, has developed a family of materials that utilizes seaweed’s abundant and fast-growing properties. Combined with other natural ingredients, these materials are food contact safe, home compostable, moisture and texture controllable, optically clear and heat sealable.

Francis Field, co-CEO and co-founder of Searo Lab tells Packaging Insights: “By combining Searo’s propriety IP and formulation know-how with PA’s expertise in scaling innovative technology, we combine the strengths of each organization and bring Searo Technology to market faster.” 

“The partnership will leverage PA’s extensive existing client base with global brands, giving them unique access to Searo’s innovative materials and products.”

Alternative to traditional materials

Every step of the production process, from sustainable cultivation practices and local processing to low-energy technology and no chemical modifications, is designed from an environmental standpoint. 

The potential applications of these materials are extensive, ranging from film packaging for fresh food to dissolvable shampoo pods and feminine care products.

Searo Labs’ mission is to commercialize seaweed-based natural alternatives for packaging.“Traditional plastics (petroleum-based) and bioplastics (bio-based) are toxic, causing the release of harmful chemicals into our bodies and the environment, as well as microplastics that harm animals and ecosystems,” says Field.

Seaweed is a better alternative feedstock than plastic and bioplastic applications, according to Searo Labs CEO. A recent study highlighted seaweed as a resilient source, capable of thriving in diverse environmental conditions, even in extreme scenarios like volcanic eruptions or nuclear wars with reduced sunlight.

“It needs no land, freshwater or fertilizer to grow. It can be sourced around the world and grows rapidly — up to 1 meter per day,” Field continues. Furthermore,  seaweed can help reduce oxygen levels and acidity in the oceans while capturing carbon.

“Searo Labs has developed a technology to convert the natural polymers in seaweed into a range of plastic-like materials while causing no chemical modification during our process. This means our products remain entirely natural and compatible with natural systems. Unlike plastic and bioplastic, our materials can biodegrade rapidly and entirely in a home compost, improving soil health.”

Advancing sustainable solutions

Searo Labs currently operates research and development across two sites, including Cambridge Science Park and PA’s Global Innovation and Technology Centre in Cambridge, UK. The collaboration between Searo Lab and PA has already developed scalable manufacturing processes using existing machinery to meet the growing global demand for sustainable products and packaging.

“The scale of the impact we have the potential to make is vast. Our focus will be on helping leading brands meet their sustainability goals while addressing the acute problems with plastic by providing sustainable alternatives,” highlights Field.

“Global brands using single-use products require volumes in the hundreds of billions. By switching even one product line over to using Searo’s material, we could avoid many millions of tonnes of plastic from entering the environment each year.”

The collaboration aims to help brands achieve their sustainability goals and address the need to reduce plastics and toxic chemicals. Recent research has discovered “thousands of chemicals” in plastic food packaging, including some that are harmful to the human body.

Steven Clarke, process engineering and industrial automation expert at PA, stresses that the urgent need to reduce harmful chemicals like PFAS in the environment requires innovative solutions. 

“This novel seaweed-based technology has the potential to make a big impact across a wide range of products that people use daily. Together, we can industrialize and commercialize this solution and develop first-to-market innovations,” says Clarke.

PA has also been promoting sustainable product and packaging technologies. Its partnerships include advancing dry molded fiber technology with PulPac to reduce plastic waste in various industries and collaborating with Kemira to develop new renewable barrier coatings for more sustainable food packaging.

By Sichong Wang