Reykjavík Grapevine - apr 2022, Qupperneq 23

23The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 04— 2022
From
Seaweed To
Plastic Film
How Icelandic entrepreneurs are revolutionizin!
the future of packa!in!
When I first came across Marea, an
Icelandic startup developing a biode-
gradable packaging film from seaweed,
I couldn’t get over the incredibly
diverse background of its founder—
Julie Encausse.
Julie has lived, worked and stud-
ied in four countries, pivoting from
marketing, brand management and
film production to sustainability. The
idea to start Marea came about when
Julie and two friends, Edda and Jódís,
were working on a project for their
university course.
“Marea was born over a cup of hot
tea in one of the coffee shops at Reyk-
javík University back in June 2019,”
says Julie. The group had just wrapped
up a practical entrepreneurial course
taught by Iceland’s seasoned investor
and entrepreneur Bala Kamallakharan.
For the course, students had to design
and pitch a startup idea. What Bala said
at the course struck a chord with Julie:
“The usual ideas are usually bad ideas
to start a startup. You really need to feel
that you are solving a real global prob-
lem.” That is exactly what Julie and her
team ended up doing after the course.
Promising future of
seaweed biopolymers
Marea has not started production yet,
but its team of experts in business,
innovation, marketing, engineering,
biochemistry and biotechnology is
working night and day towards 100%
biodegradable packaging.
“We feel privileged to be working on
developing seaweed biopolymers at this
point in time,” Julie told The Grapevine.
“Seaweed cultivation is on the fast track
to becoming the rule and not the excep-
tion, and we are just starting to unlock
its potential and applications, from a
food source to clothing and biomedical
usages.”
“I think never before have we had
such engaged consumers, who demand
better cost-effective solutions,” she
continues. “Consumer behavior is
changing in that we are skipping the
unnecessary polybags and packag-
ing, (nudged by new legislations
that continue to evolve), and moving
towards smart packaging. I think that
soon enough a QR code will be a neces-
sity in packaging so that we know how,
when and where to dispose it.”
The technology
behind it all
Julie is sure that there’s no one size
fits all solution when it comes to the
challenges of packaging. “Our team is
focusing on developing thin films that
are biodegradable, food-grade and
ocean-safe," she says. "We are at the
solution-design end of things: develop-
ing a seaweed-based biopolymer, which
basically translates into a material
from which, through traditional manu-
facturing equipment with a twist, you
can create biodegradable packaging.
We don't aim at having a large product
range but we do aim at being the best at
sustainable thin-film packaging.”
Julie is confident that the market
is screaming for an alternative. “Busi-
nesses are in dire need of other pack-
aging materials that do not lead to
their products becoming more expen-
sive for their clients. Believe me, we
get it, and we are working on it with
tharaplast [the thin film packaging].
We are leveraging all the great things
about seaweed, such as the fact that it
is regenerative and captures CO2 and
turning that into a biodegradable pack-
aging that is ocean-safe and won't be
stuck in landfills.”
Marea has already run a few experi-
ments to measure how long it takes for
tharaplast to biodegrade. Samples of
tharaplast were added to composting
containers at the Hafnarfjör!ur facili-
ties of waste management company
Terra, and after fifteen days there
were little to no traces left. The team is
about to start the formal research and
lab work on analyzing and understand-
ing how tharaplast can be put to better
use when disposed: “Seaweed-derived
biopolymers have the potential to act as
biofertilizers since its components can
enhance microbial activity and improve
plant yield.”
Local action for replicable
global impact
Marea wants to bring solutions to busi-
nesses in the food sector where most
often unnecessary packaging options
are found. “The endgame is a global and
scalable solution that we are designing.
I cannot think of a better place than
Iceland to kick start this. Where else
will you find the undaunting spirit,
resilience and fearless determination
that Icelanders have to move forward
through challenges and nasty winters,
paired with the supportive startup
ecosystem?”
Marea plans to create a pilot-scale
station in Iceland by 2025, with the aim
that it completely meets the needs of
the Icelandic market in biodegradable
thin films used for packaging. After use
the products can be converted to biofer-
tilizers and feed for livestock, and the
company plans to have their technical
solution patented and in use across at
least five other countries.
Words:
Iryna Zubenko

Photos:
Art Bicnick
Innovation
“We aim at
being the best
at sustainable
thin film
packaging.”
Tharaplast—thin film alternative made from seaweed
Julie Encausse: fighting for the anti-plastic cause