A leading sustainable packaging company is seeking to determine whether seaweed fibres can be used as a raw material in paper and packaging products.
In an industry first, London-based DS Smith will investigate the potential of seaweed as an alternative fibre source to wood, amid increasing demand for sustainable and recyclable goods from consumers.
The FTSE 100-listed company, which operates in 34 countries worldwide, has announced that it is talking to several biotechnology companies to explore the potential use of eco-friendly seaweed fibres in a range of packaging products, such as cartons, paper wraps and cardboard trays.
It will also research seaweed’s potential role as a barrier coating to replace problem plastics and traditional, petroleum-based packaging used to protect many foodstuffs.
“As a leader in sustainability, our research into alternative raw material and fibre sources will help us drive this project forward, looking at seaweed’s strength, resilience, recyclable properties, scalability and cost,” said Giancarlo Maroto, DS Smith North America’s managing director of paper, forestry and recycling.
“Seaweed could have multiple uses with a low ecological footprint that is easily recyclable and naturally biodegradable.”
Maroto added that producing packaging from seaweed could use less energy and fewer chemicals to extract the fibres, helping to create the next generation of sustainable packaging solutions.
DS Smith’s seaweed project is part of a $140 million (£120m), five-year circular economy research and development program, designed in part to boost research into alternative fibres and to reduce and eliminate waste.
The project will also look at the potential uses of straw, hemp, cotton and other natural fibres, along with alternative sources, including agricultural waste such as cocoa shells or bagasse – the pulp fibre left over after sugar cane is processed.
Sugar cane has proved a popular renewable source for the packaging industry in recent years. Leading UK manufacturer Polybags’ range of eco-friendly packaging includes both 100%-compostable bags derived from renewable materials such as sugar cane or potato starch, along with an innovative range of I’m Green polythene products – produced using green ethanol derived from sugar cane – that perform in the same way as traditional polythene, but are carbon-neutral, 95% renewable and fully recyclable.
DS Smith’s research will explore the use of various species of green, brown and red seaweed. If any of them are found to be a viable alternative fibre source to wood, it could mark the plant as the next big thing for the sustainable packaging industry.
It would also provide a further boost to the European seaweed industry, already predicted to be worth almost $11 billion (£9.3bn) by 2030.
Photo by Shane Stagner on Unsplash.
