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An innovative seaweed-based food packaging material that extends shelf-life and eliminates food waste, with fully biodegradable and biodigestible properties.
About
SoluBlue has developed a sustainable alternative to plastic and bioplastic food packaging which extends shelf-life and reduces food waste. (Please see the video link provided.) One third of the food we produce is wasted today and soft fruit is particularly prone to wastage, with a recent survey by WRAP, estimating that 1 in 10 UK strawberries end up as waste. A problem with plastic and bioplastic packaging is that they cause condensation, which fosters mould growth as a result, leading to the premature spoilage of food. Our material solution looks and feels like plastic, but is breathable and hydrophilic, absorbing excess moisture from food and preventing mould growth. Not only does our packaging extend shelf life – preventing premature spoilage – in SoluBlue packaging food gradually dries over months, which opens the opportunity for its use in cooking, or as animal feed. Another problem with plastic packaging is that when contaminated by food, it cannot be recycled. It ends up in landfills and in the ocean; contaminating our natural world and causing energy and nutrients to be irretrievably lost. This both lowers the quality of soil and pollutes oceans. Being made from seaweed, our material is biodigestible, making it safe for marine life. Our packaging is fully compostable, biodegrading as quickly as the food it contains. This means that both food and it’s container can be placed in the same composting bin, which ensures its effective capture and return as fertiliser to grow food.
Key Benefits
1. Reduced waste/increased profit: Food retailers and producers will be able to keep food fresh for longer and may rely on less refrigeration. Fresh food will also have a ‘second-life’ for retail: once the ‘fresh sell-by date’ has expired a second ‘dried sell-by date’ will open the opportunity for food to be kept on shelves in store or at home: Both increasing the value of food and reducing food waste. 2. Circular and simplified waste steams capturing carbon: Both food and its SoluBlue packaging can be placed in the same composting bin, which simplifies the waste stream for the consumer; ensures more food waste is captured as residue on the packaging; enriches agricultural land through seaweed’s ability to capture carbon and nitrogen, and return it to soil as compost. 3. Supporting both aquaculture & agriculture: Support for global seaweed aquaculture, job creation and the marine bioeconomy by increasing demand for applications in packaging. Support for agriculture through (in contrast to bioplastic) reducing pressure on land use by cultivating biopolymer at sea, avoiding landfill at end of life.
Applications
Fresh fruit and vegetable packaging: Our initial market vertical of fresh food packaging may be quantified in the billions of units in the UK alone, where strawberries, raspberries and blueberries constituted 90% of the market share for soft fruit in 2018, and soft fruit purchases now account for 22% of all consumer fruit purchases. SoluBlue packaging is also an effective solution for extending the shelf life of cheese.