College student creates packaging material from seagrass

In London, Royal College of Art student Felix Pöttinger has developed a biodegradable packaging material made from seagrass.

The seagrass, which washes up on beaches, is mixed with a binding substance, pressed into a mold, and then dried. Pöttinger says previous research has also shown the seagrass to be highly resistant to mold. “I’m only using the dead seagrass fibres that appear on the beaches of the Mediterranean coast, so there is no industrial harvesting process to harm the population of the seagrass or any living being.” Pöttinger believes the material could ultimately replace plastic packaging for food.