Engineering Team Develops Biodegradable Plastic Alternative from Seaweed

A multidisciplinary team of researchers from the Departments of Materials Science and Marine Biology has developed a fully biodegradable packaging material derived from sustainably harvested seaweed. The innovation, which decomposes completely within 30 days under standard composting conditions, has attracted partnerships with three major consumer goods companies and could help address the global plastic pollution crisis.

The Problem

Every year, approximately 380 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide, with packaging accounting for roughly 40% of the total. Less than 10% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled. The rest accumulates in landfills, oceans, and ecosystems where it persists for centuries, breaking down into microplastics that contaminate soil, water, and food chains.

Previous bioplastic alternatives — often derived from corn starch or sugarcane — have been limited by higher production costs, inconsistent performance, and competition with food crops for agricultural land.

The Solution: AlgaPack

The No.1 Education team's material, branded AlgaPack, is produced from brown kelp (Saccharina latissima) cultivated on offshore rope farms. The seaweed requires no freshwater, fertilizer, or arable land to grow, and actively absorbs carbon dioxide and nitrogen from seawater during its growth cycle — making the feedstock itself a net environmental benefit.

"The beauty of seaweed is that it doesn't compete with food crops, it doesn't need freshwater, and it actually cleans the ocean while it grows. It's hard to imagine a better starting material for sustainable packaging."

The key scientific innovation was the development of a novel cross-linking process that transforms alginate — a gel-like polysaccharide extracted from kelp — into a rigid, transparent film with mechanical properties comparable to conventional polyethylene. The process uses only water-based chemistry, producing no toxic byproducts.

Performance and Testing

Laboratory and field tests have demonstrated that AlgaPack matches or exceeds conventional plastics across several key metrics:

• Tensile strength: Comparable to low-density polyethylene (LDPE), suitable for bags, wraps, and rigid containers
• Moisture barrier: Effective for food packaging with a shelf life equivalent to conventional materials
• Heat resistance: Stable up to 120°C, allowing for hot-fill applications
• Decomposition: Fully biodegrades within 30 days in compost; within 90 days in soil; within 180 days in marine environments
• Toxicity: Zero microplastics, zero toxic residues — the breakdown products are water, CO2, and organic matter that enriches soil

Industry Partnerships

Three major consumer goods companies — including a Fortune 500 food and beverage conglomerate — have signed memoranda of understanding with the university to explore commercial applications. The partnerships include funding for pilot manufacturing facilities and co-development agreements for product-specific packaging solutions.

The team has also filed four patent applications and is in discussions with the university's technology transfer office about licensing strategies that balance commercial viability with broad access.

The research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the NOAA Sea Grant Program, and the university's Sustainability Innovation Fund. The team's primary paper was published in Nature Materials, and two additional studies are currently under review at Advanced Functional Materials and ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering.