Recent years have seen the packaging industry introduce a flurry of nature-derived innovations in sustainability – prawn-shell plastic bags, the repurposing of palm leaves, cellulose moulding, wood pulp cellophane, and so on. But such notions have their limitations: both in functionality and in just how fully recyclable they actually are.
Enter the next phase: packaging that uses natural processes to not only break down entirely, but that can put something back into the soil; that is, to produce a net ecological benefit. Welcome to the era of ‘bio-contributing’ packaging.
“We’re exploring more and more natural materials that can be used in expected ways, including packaging that’s edible – that worms and bacteria will feast on, to fertilise the next cycle of life,” explains Pierre Paslier, an ex-packaging engineer for L’Oréal and co-founder of packaging company Notpla. Notpla is an edible material made from brown seaweed, which grows up to a metre per day, without the need for freshwater or fertiliser, and which biodegrades completely in around a month.