Can seaweed eradicate single-use plastic? Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez, co-founder of the award-winning packaging company Notpla, joins Grant Gibson to discuss the rapid rise of one of the world’s most exciting alternative materials.

In this episode, we dive into the history of seaweed as a resource and the technology of material replacement. We discuss:

• The Earthshot Prize: How a student project in a kitchen won a global environmental award.
• The Perfect Replacement: Why seaweed is the ultimate regenerative substitute for plastic packaging.
• Ooho & The London Marathon: Using edible bubbles to eliminate thousands of plastic bottles.
• Scaling Up: Notpla's journey from a crowdfunding campaign to a global brand.
• Industry Resistance: The political challenges of replacing traditional plastic.

Rodrigo also reflects on his early water balloon experiments in Hyde Park and why he almost became an architect.

Explore more: Visit materialmatters.design for more on our fairs and conferences, and sign up to our newsletter for regular updates and insights on material intelligence.

Support the show