ForMatter/Materials/biomaterial/Notpla Seaweed Bioplastic
mat_seaweed_notpla

Notpla Seaweed Bioplastic

seaweed-extract-based home-compostable film / coating · Notpla, Ooho, seaweed plastic
mediumlast updated 2026-04-27

A plastic-substitute family from London startup Notpla, made from brown-seaweed-derived alginate and other algae extracts. Their flagship product Ooho is the edible water capsule used at the London Marathon since 2019; their coatings replace plastic linings in takeaway food containers; their films replace single-use plastic bags. Home-compostable in 4–6 weeks, edible at the food-grade end, and produced from a cultivated seaweed feedstock that doesn't need fresh water or arable land.

Family of seaweed-derived materials based on alginate (extracted from brown algae Laminaria and Saccharina) and other algal polysaccharides. Properties vary by product line: Ooho membrane is ~75 µm wet film, edible, water-soluble within hours. Notpla coating is a heat-sealable layer on paperboard food packaging. Notpla film is a flexible packaging substitute. Home-compostable per OK Compost HOME certification, breaks down in 4–6 weeks in domestic compost.

Mechanical

  • notehighly product-line dependent; manufacturer publishes case-study data rather than universal datasheet

Sustainability

  • embodied carbon · kg CO₂e/kg0.3
  • recyclabilityvery high — home-compostable in 4–6 weeks; edible variants
  • biodegradableTrue
  • certificationsTÜV OK Compost HOME, TÜV OK Compost INDUSTRIAL, EN 13432
source: Editorial estimate from ICE / Granta CES EduPack class databases — industry mean, with cradle-to-gate boundary unless otherwise noted. Embodied carbon for any specific product depends on supplier mix, recycled content, and energy grid; verify against a primary source before using these numbers in a sustainability claim.
visual
translucent yellow-brown to amber film; coatings often invisible on paperboard substrate

PBR starter values

finish · transparent — open for table, JSON, host snippets, downloads

Principled BSDF defaults derived from the sphere transparent finish. Reasonable seed for Blender, Substance, Keyshot, Rhino — tune per material. Or grab the whole library at once: ForMaterials library →

# finish:                   transparent
albedo                      #c8a878
metallic                    0.00
roughness                   0.05
ior                         1.50
transmission                1.00
clearcoat                   0.00
sheen                       0.00
anisotropic                 0.00
thickness                   1.00
attenuation_distance        0.60
copy as JSON 
{
  "albedo": "#c8a878",
  "metallic": 0.0,
  "roughness": 0.05,
  "ior": 1.5,
  "transmission": 1.0,
  "clearcoat": 0.0,
  "sheen": 0.0,
  "anisotropic": 0.0,
  "thickness": 1.0,
  "attenuation_distance": 0.6
}
Blender 4.x Python 
# Blender 4.x — Principled BSDF
# Notpla Seaweed Bioplastic · finish: transparent
import bpy
mat = bpy.data.materials.new(name="mat_seaweed_notpla")
mat.use_nodes = True
bsdf = mat.node_tree.nodes["Principled BSDF"]
bsdf.inputs["Base Color"].default_value         = (0.5776, 0.3916, 0.1878, 1.0)
bsdf.inputs["Metallic"].default_value           = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Roughness"].default_value          = 0.050
bsdf.inputs["IOR"].default_value                = 1.500
bsdf.inputs["Transmission Weight"].default_value = 1.000
bsdf.inputs["Coat Weight"].default_value        = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Sheen Weight"].default_value       = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Anisotropic"].default_value        = 0.000
KeyShot Python (lux) 
# KeyShot 11+ — lux Python API, Generic material
# Notpla Seaweed Bioplastic · finish: transparent
# Run from Window → Scripting Console
import lux
mat = lux.createMaterial(name="mat_seaweed_notpla", materialType="Generic")
mat.setProperty("diffuse",      (200, 168, 120))   # 8-bit sRGB
mat.setProperty("metallic",     0.000)
mat.setProperty("roughness",    0.050)
mat.setProperty("indexOfRefraction", 1.500)
mat.setProperty("transparency", 1.000)
mat.setProperty("coatingWeight", 0.000)
Substance pbrMetalRough 
{
  "_format": "Substance Designer / Painter \u2014 pbrMetalRough constants",
  "_about": "Notpla Seaweed Bioplastic \u00b7 finish: transparent",
  "baseColor": {
    "r": 0.5776,
    "g": 0.3916,
    "b": 0.1878
  },
  "metallic": 0.0,
  "roughness": 0.05,
  "ior": 1.5,
  "opacity": 0.0,
  "anisotropyLevel": 0.0,
  "_notes": "Channels listed are the standard Substance pbrMetalRough output. Drop into a Uniform Color node per channel, or as the constant input on a layered stack."
}
glTF 2.0 Metallic-Roughness 
{
  "asset": {
    "version": "2.0",
    "generator": "ForMatter"
  },
  "materials": [
    {
      "name": "mat_seaweed_notpla",
      "pbrMetallicRoughness": {
        "baseColorFactor": [
          0.5776,
          0.3916,
          0.1878,
          1.0
        ],
        "metallicFactor": 0.0,
        "roughnessFactor": 0.05
      },
      "extensions": {
        "KHR_materials_transmission": {
          "transmissionFactor": 1.0
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}
USD Preview Surface 
# USD Preview Surface — UsdShade.MaterialLook prim attributes
# Notpla Seaweed Bioplastic · finish: transparent
def Material "mat_seaweed_notpla" {
    token outputs:surface.connect = </mat_seaweed_notpla/PreviewSurface.outputs:surface>

    def Shader "PreviewSurface" {
        uniform token info:id = "UsdPreviewSurface"
        color3f inputs:diffuseColor = (0.5776, 0.3916, 0.1878)
        float   inputs:metallic     = 0.000
        float   inputs:roughness    = 0.050
        float   inputs:ior          = 1.500
        float   inputs:opacity      = 0.000
        float   inputs:clearcoat    = 0.000
        token   outputs:surface
    }
}
↓ download glTF material
Substitutes
PHA (Polyhydroxyalkanoate)
Chitosan Film

Second life

repairabilityzero — single-use packaging.
recyclabilityvery high — marine-biodegradable.
disposal pathmarine composting; industrial composting.
typical longevity1 years (typical)
failure modes
  • intentional water-degradation
  • UV embrittlement
  • temperature sensitivity above 60 °C

Notpla technical literature; UK Plastics Pact bio-packaging guidelines.

Citations