Plastic Made with Sea Weed – Zerocircle Neha Jain

Incredibly versatile, affordable, and convenient, plastic is the perfect solution for the day-to-day needs of millions of people.

There are various types of plastic, but the ones most commonly used are single-use plastics—cups, bottles, shopping bags, and food packaging, among many other applications. Each of these single-use plastics has an average lifespan of 10 to 15 minutes of consumer usage before it is discarded.

Ironically, this plastic, because of its chemical composition, can stay on the planet for hundreds of years. That means a plastic bag that you used to carry a single item from the supermarket will be around for several generations. 

Single-use plastic has become an environmental nightmare, causing significant problems for air, water, and land, and impacting human health and biodiversity.

Given the challenges posed by plastic, finding solutions is an urgent priority. Among the options gaining widespread acceptance is an outright ban on single-use plastic. Many countries across the world have already implemented the ban.

However, this raises the question of alternatives. Businesses and consumers would need options for carrying and storing materials. We need an alternative to single-use plastic that can be reused or a material that can be easily recycled or composted.

Voilà, a fantastic plastic alternative has been developed using algae found in our oceans and seas—seaweed.

Seaweed is a type of aquatic plant or algae that grows in water bodies such as oceans, seas, and rivers. It is used for a variety of purposes, including food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and biofuels.

Seaweed also reduces carbon emissions and improves the marine environment. More about Seaweed and its advantages here. If that was not enough, this marine crop has emerged as one of the mediums to fight plastic pollution.

Plastic alternatives can be made from seaweed, and an Indian startup, Zerocircle, is one of them. Zerocircle is a sustainable packaging company that makes plastic from seaweed, a material that is entirely biodegradable, cost-effective, and durable. 

We had an insightful conversation with Zerocricle founder Neha Jain to understand her journey, Zerocricle’s plans, and the challenges it faces. 

Currently, Zerocircle seaweed plastic can replace LDPE (low-density polyethene) and PP (Polypropylene). The Mumbai-based startup has signed up with large CPG companies to manufacture industrial packaging materials using seaweed.

Neha mentioned that Zerocircle sources its seaweed from farming communities in the Indian coastal states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu. 

Below are the edited excerpts of our conversation. For the whole discussion, you can watch the video on YouTube.

Tell us about your Journey.

I have an IT background and have worked with several large conglomerates in the digital technology space. I also did a lot of pro-bono work with many companies in the IT and architecture space. In 2018, I left my job and decided to make materials that make sense. 

I began examining the footprint of every material used in the engineering of 21st-century materials. Like, what is the impact of raw materials, then what goes into processing, and what happens at the end of life? 

Understanding this entire lifecycle was part of my two-year research. While I was doing this research, I also realised that there has to be a material that is not only renewable but also regenerative. 

When I discovered seaweed, I realised that it is one of the ancient organisms that lived on this planet. In fact, the microalgae and macroalgae found in the oceans are the grandfathers of the trees we have on land.

The survival of the oceans is so critical for our lives. We need to understand that it is the ocean that we need to harvest sustainably. What can you take from the oceans that can be built into a material, used sustainably, and discarded sustainably?

There is a lot of research happening in this space. I wanted to leverage the research that is being done and already done, and create a solution around it.

Seaweed is the base material we use to replace plastic, which is used only for a few minutes and remains in the system for 400 years.

The seaweed-made packaging can go away as easily as it came into life. Once you are done with the packaging, you can throw in the wet waste, and if, by any chance, it ends up in the ocean, it is marine-degradable.

What are the advantages of Seaweed?

Seaweed is an alga that grows in the oceans, and its most interesting feature is it rapid growth; it performs photosynthesis, releases oxygen, and consumes no resources from us.

Seaweed does not need any energy fertilisers or freshwater to grow; it only needs seawater and sunlight to flourish. 

On an emotional level, I would say seaweeds are the lungs of the ocean. Seaweeds not only reduce the carbon dioxide from the sea, but also nitrogen and phosphorus, which enter the ocean because of agricultural runoff and impact the marine environment.

If seaweed can be cultivated and turned into a valuable product that leaves no harmful byproducts, that is what we are imbuing in our products at Zerocircle.

Why did you select Seaweed to make the plastic alternatives and not any other agricultural crop?

Agricultural products are great because they are bio-based, but they require significant resources.

Corn and Soy are exploitative in the way they are commercially produced. The question is: do you want to use food to make plastic alternatives, which will create other sustainability and food security problems? 

How would you describe your product?

It might feel softer than plastic, but it looks a lot like the transparent, flexible plastic you can buy. We have maintained very easy compostability, whereby our product decomposes like a vegetable.

A typical consumer might not be able to tell the difference. Moreover, we work with several B2B consumer brands, so end customers will never buy that plastic directly from us.

Zerocircle seaweed plastic will be used in processed foods, skincare and personal care products, and even fresh food packaging. 

Our packaging is not just sustainable; it is a better form of packaging with functional properties. We tested our packaging with fruits such as bananas, berries, and tomatoes, and Zerocircle packaging extended the products’ shelf life. 

What types of plastic, such as seaweed plastic, can be solved?

Of the seven types of plastic, we have LDPE, PE, and PP. These polymers are widely used for flexible, transparent packaging. Currently, our plastic can replace both of these polymers. 

Examples of this kind of plastic include the flexible plastic covers you see in the supermarket, as well as the packaging for chips, noodles, milk, bread, etc.

Zerocircle’s first focus market is any dry food products. Milk and other high-moisture food products will proceed to the subsequent phase.

However, oil packaging is within our scope, and we are talking with large CPG brands to replace it. 

Starting this company wouldn’t have been easy. Did you receive any support?

I used my savings to start Zerocircle. In the last few years, there has been growing awareness of sustainable solutions. Then there is a lot of support system in place to help you on your journey.

Apart from the excitement we see from our clients, we also see the enthusiasm from the startup community. There are so many accelerator programs worldwide that help small companies.

We have been incubated by quite a few of them, which has not only helped us connect with partners and clients but also reach global markets. 

What were the challenges?

The biggest one was finding and attracting the right talent, especially in the biotech space. Material science is new in India, especially in the startup ecosystem.

What are your plans?

We recently raised a pre-seed round from a climate fund, which has helped us launch pilot production. In the first half of 2022, we will focus on executing the pilot production to help us understand our capacity and the quantities we can produce.

The brands we are speaking to require materials in substantial quantities. 

From where are you sourcing seaweed? 

We have partners in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat who are sustainably cultivating on their own land.

There are two ways we get biomass. One is through Seaweed Collectives, which do their cultivation. The other community comprises SMEs engaged in land-based production, meaning cultivation is done in tanks placed next to the seashore. 

Land-based seaweed cultivation helps in producing a higher quantity of seaweed, and it also helps in controlling the temperature, so that seaweed is not spoiled in case of fluctuating temperatures. 

Where do you plan to set up your manufacturing facility?

We want to keep manufacturing within a 200 km radius of the seaweed production site. 

What is the cost of your plastic?

We compare ourselves with other biodegradable plastics and not with non-biodegradable ones. We are price-competitive with biodegradable plastic. 

What was the idea behind the name Zerocircle?

The idea is to imbibe the traits of a zero-carbon footprint, zero impact, and a circular economy. 

What is your personal connection with nature?

It’s been a process for someone who took nature for granted.

My personal connection with nature began when I started rescuing animals. Generally, when we speak about the environment, we focus on our home conditions and don’t necessarily consider the conditions we create for animals.

The connection with animals made me realise the importance of nature and the world we are creating.

You can watch the full interview on our YouTube channel.