Seaweed-based home-compostable bioplastics for sustainable applications

Overview

Sway's Firstwave™ is an innovative seaweed-based bioplastic film designed to replace traditional petroplastics across multiple industries. As a 100% Biobased and Home & Industrial Compostable material, it offers a sustainable alternative that decomposes into a beneficial soil amendment rather than contributing to landfill waste or marine pollution. Firstwave™ is currently used in product windows for fashion, food, and beauty brands, and is set to expand into sectors like automotive and agriculture. This project aims to enhance its performance, making it suitable for a wider range of single-use plastic replacements.

Technical specifications

Key features:

• Made from naturally abundant, fast-growing seaweed
• Certified 100% Biobased and Home & Industrial Compostable
• Increases tear strength by 10x and reduces gelation and imperfections
• Aims to increase solids to 20% for better performance
• Suitable for applications in food packaging, automotive, agriculture, and more

Technology readiness level

Firstwave™ is at a Technology Readiness Level 9, indicating that it is fully developed and commercially available. The current project focuses on enhancing its properties to support broader applications and improve its processability through formulation development, process optimization, pilot production, and converter testing.