Developing the edible packaging of tomorrow.

Algae as a sustainable packaging material for food? What sounds unusual at first actually has many advantages. Macroalgae are a renewable, compostable raw material. Algae packaging would therefore be environmentally friendly and would avoid plastic waste. In addition, it could be made edible, with positive effects for the end consumer due to the numerous nutrients and effective antioxidants that algae contain. In the MAK-PAK project, the Alfred Wegener Institute, together with the Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences and partners from industry, is researching which macroalgae are particularly suitable for packaging, how they can be produced quickly in larger quantities, and processed into stable and edible packaging.

Image: AWI/ L. Niemeyer