Lithuanian designer’s algae-based material could revolutionise packaging

Lithuanian designer Austeja Platukyte, a graduate of Vilnius Academy of Arts, has created a range of packaging that uses a material made from algae, which has the potential to replace non-biodegradable plastic.

The only ingredients Platukyte uses are agar, which is derived from algae, and calcium carbonate containing emulsifying wax.

While the resulting material is durable and robust enough to protect the items inside it, it is also lightweight and waterproof. In addition, the material is very eco-friendly, being compostable, suitable for use as a fertiliser to help retain soil moisture, or left to decay naturally. Platukyte buried the packaging earlier this year in order to test its biodegradability, noting that it formed new layers of chalk as it decayed.

Source: Dezeen