DIVE DEEPER:

• Seaweed is an abundant natural resource. It is estimated to cover approximately 3.4 million square kilometres of our ocean.

• Seaweed cultivation is the most rapidly expanding sector in aquaculture (farming seafood). It accounts for more than 50% of total global marine production.

• Seaweed production has increased 15 fold over the past 50 years. 34.7 million tonnes of seaweed was cultivated in 2019, reaching a value of USD 14.7 billion.

• China, Indonesia and the Philippines lead in the global volume of seaweed production. China and Indonesia have a symbiotic relationship when it comes to seaweed. Indonesia is the largest producer of the raw material, typically used for gelling agents that can be applied across food and other products, while China is the largest processor of this seaweed.

• While the European seaweed market is currently small (300,000 tons), a 2020 report suggests the industry could grow to over eight million tons annually by 2030, creating 115,000 jobs and mitigating over five million tons of CO2e emissions per year.

• In the UK, a seaweed farming and processing company in North Yorkshire has just received GBP 2.8 million (USD 3.3 million) from the UK government’s Biomass Feedstocks Innovation Programme, to develop new techniques to farm and harvest seaweed as a source of biomass and energy for the country.

• Although high income countries are increasingly investing in seaweed cultivation, the seaweed industry currently supports the livelihoods of over six million small-scale farmers and processors in 48 predominantly low and middle-income countries. Entire multi-generational families are often employed in the sector.

• Seaweed does not require fertiliser and can grow at more than 30 times the rate of land-based plants. Some species can grow up to one metre per day.

• Seaweed farming takes different forms. In some cases it involves managing naturally growing seaweed, while in others it encompasses overseeing the full lifecycle. Seedlings can be tied to lines, nets or frames, which sit below the surface of the water. Prototype machines, such as the ‘seaweed spinner’ have been designed to automatically wrap spools of seedling threads onto lines, ready to be deployed at sea. Seaweed can also be cultivated inland in pools.

• Harvesting methods also vary. Often seaweed is cut by hand at the shoreline, however it can also be cut by hand from a boat or lines can be lifted from the ocean with a mechanical arm.

• After harvesting, seaweed can be processed in a number of different ways. It can be fermented, dried, extruded into pellets and powdered.

• While food remains the dominant application for seaweed, it is increasingly being used as a compostable, biodegradable alternative for single-use packaging and products.

• Altering quantities of additives and plasticisers, such as glycerol, enables the properties of the end materials to be controlled. Flexibility, transparency and biodegradability can be tailored to suit different applications.

• Loliware created the home compostable Blue Carbon Straw using seaweed, Evoware (formerly Ello Jello) developed edible seaweed cups, Notpla uses the organism to make both compostable and edible sachets, and Sway has turned to seaweed for its flexible film replacement.

• Outside of packaging, British beauty brand Haeckels launched grown-to-order eye masks made from seaweed, while fashion brands and designers, including Mango, Jasmine Linington, 3.1 Phillip Lim and Charlotte McCurdy have investigated its use for textiles.