Notpla Uses Seaweed to Replace Single-Use Plastic Packaging
Notpla, a packaging firm based in the UK, has developed a fully biodegradable alternative to plastic made from seaweed. In 2013, co-founders Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez and Pierre Paslier invented Ooho, an edible water bubble intended to substitute plastic bottles. Following a challenge from Just Eat, Notpla created a takeaway box that features a natural seaweed coating, making it both grease-resistant and compostable. In 2025, the company launched the Notpla Pipette for single-use sachets. Notpla earned the Innovation of the Year award at the UK Packaging Awards and secured €4 million in funding from Horizon Europe for a compostable coffee cup initiative. The firm aims to eliminate 1 billion single-use plastics by 2030, having already replaced over 41 million items and 75 tonnes of plastic.
Key facts
- Notpla is a UK-based packaging company that creates 100% biodegradable alternatives to plastic from seaweed.
- Co-founders Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez and Pierre Paslier designed the edible water bubble Ooho in 2013.
- Just Eat challenged Notpla to create plastic-free takeaway boxes, leading to food containers with seaweed coating.
- In 2025, Notpla launched the Notpla Pipette, a seaweed alternative to single-use plastic sachets.
- Notpla won Innovation of the Year at the UK Packaging Awards and the Responsible Packaging Expo Awards in 2022.
- Gonzalez and Paslier received €4 million from Horizon Europe for a three-year project to develop a compostable coffee cup coating.
- Notpla aims to replace 1 billion units of single-use plastic by 2030; it has already replaced over 41 million items.
- Replacing all single-use plastic with seaweed-based alternatives would require only 0.066% of the ocean's plantlife, according to Notpla's projections.
Entities
Artists
- Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez
- Pierre Paslier
Institutions
- Notpla
- Just Eat
- Horizon Europe
- UK Packaging Award
- The Responsible Packaging Expo Awards
Locations
- United Kingdom