Seaweed’s Role in Sustainable Innovation

Marine farming for a healthier planet.

Agriculture faces immense pressure to satisfy hunger and nutritional needs worldwide as the global population approaches 10 billion by 2050. Terrestrial agriculture requires large amounts of freshwater and arable land – both increasingly scarce due to overexploitation by today’s agricultural systems, a dilemma worsened by extreme weather events, biodiversity loss, and climate change. Beyond water and land use, today’s food production system accounts for over 10% of greenhouse gas emissions, predominantly carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane. Furthermore, agricultural systems worldwide generate between 1.3–2.1 billion tonnes of food waste annually. Therefore, today’s food production system is inherently unsustainable, which is increasingly problematic considering the growing population.

Terrestrial agriculture requires large amounts of freshwater and arable land – a dilemma worsened by extreme weather events, biodiversity loss, and climate change.

Driven by consumerism rather than demand, with a lack of regard for consequences, today’s production systems fail to satisfy the growing population yet damage ecosystems and produce unnecessary waste. This system needs fundamental change. To meet human security needs and the Sustainable Development Goals of ending hunger and eradicating poverty, alternative production methods prioritising the minimisation of environmental impact must be explored.

One shift in food production practices is moving society’s deep roots in terrestrial agriculture to aquaculture and seaweed farming. Seaweed, or algae-based aquaculture, is more sustainable, with its potential to provide a myriad of products being explored by many innovators today.

Environmental sustainability of seaweed farming

To understand specifically the few resources needed in seaweed aquaculture, consider the difference between land and water needed in beef production versus microalgae production. One metric tonne of beef produced requires 12.5 hectares of land and 150,000 cubic metres of water, whereas one metric tonne of microalgae requires only 0.2 hectares of land and 20 cubic metres of water. Seaweed agriculture exploits less resources than traditional terrestrial food production systems.

Moreover, seaweed agriculture avoids the common adverse effects of traditional agriculture, such as nutrient runoff and greenhouse gas emissions. Seaweed is highly nutrient-efficient and absorptive, not requiring additive fertiliser like most land-based crops. As a result, seaweed farming eliminates concerns of runoff and subsequent eutrophication, a common negative impact of terrestrial and, especially, coastal agriculture. Seaweed cultivation has high carbon dioxide uptake capabilities and could significantly lower carbon dioxide outputs globally. Kelp takes in more than five times the amount of carbon dioxide than most terrestrial plants. This carbon uptake, stored in plant debris, is also easier stored in the long term compared to land-based crops. Seaweed crops dispose of plant debris deep in the ocean, leaving carbon stocks relatively untouched. Terrestrial agricultural practices often disturb debris from land-based crops, releasing large quantities of stored carbon. Thus, seaweed proves a sustainable crop beyond its resource intake.

Seaweed cultivation has high carbon dioxide uptake capabilities and could significantly lower carbon dioxide outputs globally.

The environmental benefits of seaweed farming have been increasingly recognised in recent years, and innovative companies globally have explored how seaweed can revolutionise agriculture, reduce waste, and support sustainability across different industries. Four outstanding companies – CH4 Global, Sway, Seaweed Bath Co, and B’ZEOS – demonstrate seaweed’s vast potential.

CH4 Global:

Ruminants like beef and dairy cattle produce around 30% of global methane emissions – through belching as part of their digestion process. Methane gas is 80 times more potent in trapping heat than carbon dioxide, and reducing atmospheric methane is key to reaching the Paris Climate Goals of reducing global warming. CH4 Global is buying the Earth time by cutting cattle-produced methane emissions. The key ingredient (literally) to their success? The Asparagopsis seaweed, native to Australia and New Zealand.

CH4 Global released its Methane Tamer™ in 2023, a cattle feed supplement which reduces the quantity of methane released through cattle digestion by up to 90% due to the breakdown of Asparagopsis. If this product is used to feed 10% of the world’s cattle by 2030, a goal of CH4 Global, it could have a bigger impact on atmospheric composition than the theoretical decommissioning of 50 to 100 million fossil-fuelled cars.

The company has developed an efficient and sustainable farming system using trough-like onshore ponds that optimise sunlight and rely on saline water. They are also exploring low-energy methods for drying seaweed, reducing their environmental footprint throughout the production process. CH4 Global is “solving food and agriculture’s methane conundrum” and scaling up to achieve its ambitious goal of reaching 10% of the world’s cows – a promising step toward a sustainable future. However, CH4 Global is not the only player leveraging seaweed and aquaculture to advance sustainability.

Sway

Sway is a US-based company harnessing the regenerative power of seaweed to tackle one of today’s biggest pollution problems: single-use plastic. Since the 1950s, 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic have been produced, with more than two-thirds of this ending up as waste – half of which is ocean waste. As a result, recent years have seen efforts to shift towards biomaterials like corn, potato, sugar cane, and other raw materials used to make bioplastics. While this has caused bioplastics to be more commercially available, they are often not the sustainable solution they claim to be, as they demand high levels of energy and intense land and water supply, often causing carbon dioxide emissions.

Sway founder Julia Marsh discovered a way to use seaweed to create a new type of bioplastic. Seaweed works well as a bioplastic because of its strength and flexibility, supporting the shift towards environmentally responsible consumption. Thus, Sway has created a plastic that can replenish the planet rather than ruin it. Sway operates under a mission of reciprocity throughout the product’s lifecycle: seaweed is a regenerative feedstock and sustainable crop, and Sway’s bioplastic products are all home-compostable.

The company currently offers: TPSea™, a compostable seaweed resin plastic base with compounding and extrusion potential for plastic manufacturers; TPSea Flex™, a versatile thin counterpart to TPSea which has flexible packaging applications and can be used for polybags, retail bags, pouches, wrappers, and more; and Seaweed Window boxes, recyclable cardboard boxes with a compostable plastic window. All these products come with explicit instructions about ‘end-of-life’ care, including how to recycle or compost the products ensuring minimal impact, highlighting the shift away from single-use plastics that Sway offers.

Sway is a trailblazer in the fight against single-use plastics and is educating others on the potential of seaweed in production and consumption chains. Excitingly, Sway is not the only company that has discovered seaweed’s manufacturing potential.

B’ZEOS

Originally founded in Norway but now based in Spain, B’ZEOS is also changing the way plastic is produced today, as 79% of plastic products annually end up infiltrating natural environments, devastating ecosystems, and producing harmful microplastics. Like Sway, B’ZEOS uses seaweed to create bio-based, home-compostable plastic packaging, a circular product aiming to end plastic waste for upcoming generations. These composting efforts can reduce carbon emissions by 30% compared to incineration, one end-of-life tactic for single-use plastics.

B’ZEOS’ website asks visitors, “Why should we pack food that only lasts three days in packaging that lasts for centuries?” Their response is to produce packaging that does not last for centuries, thanks to a team of in-house scientists and chemists and advantageous partnerships with leading academic and research institutions. B’ZEOS partnered with Nestle in 2019 to develop sustainable food packaging prototypes and signed a second contract with the company in 2021. They are also building up to large-scale commercialisation through navigating legal and regulatory barriers across the countries in which they operate. Overall, B’ZEOS and its partners are joining the push towards a sustainable future.

Utilising seaweed as biomass like their industry peers Sway and CH4 Global, B’ZEOS creates a material that works in harmony with the ocean and its systems, rather than despite them. Beyond animal feed and plastics, seaweed’s potential has sparked interest in other industries, including cosmetics.

Seaweed Bath Co:

Seaweed Bath Co has harnessed the all-natural and environmentally friendly power of seaweed in skin and hair care products. Sway and B’ZEOS recognised the conundrum that biomaterials used for bioplastics were often unsustainable in production. Similarly, Seaweed Bath Co saw that most raw materials used in natural cosmetic products – including corn, soy, and olive – are not always a responsible choice due to their land, water, and energy requirements. Seaweed Bath Co sources ingredients like sea kelp from the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the Black Sea. These ingredients originate from minimal-impact crops, due to the sustainability of seaweed agriculture, and are rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, making them ideal for soothing and hydrating skin.

Seaweed Bath Co prides itself on transparency and offers detailed information on all ingredients used in its products. The company focuses on creating high-quality products that promote responsibility throughout their development, with seaweed as a main ingredient proving an effective way to achieve this.

Harnessing seaweed’s potential

Seaweed farming offers a compelling alternative to the unsustainable practices of terrestrial agriculture, with significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and resource waste. Transitioning from land-based to marine-based agriculture not only alleviates pressure on land and water supply but also taps into a regenerative system that supports biodiversity and ecosystem health. The innovative efforts of CH4 Global, Sway, B’ZEOS, and Seaweed Bath Co highlight the versatility of seaweed across industries. As the global population grows and climate change intensifies, exploring seaweed’s potential as a sustainable, scalable solution becomes increasingly vital. Investment and research in this field could lead to a more resilient, environmentally responsible future, promoting food security, waste reduction, and a healthier planet for future generations.

As the global population grows and climate change intensifies, exploring seaweed’s potential as a sustainable, scalable solution becomes increasingly vital.