Notpla first made headlines with its edible water bubbles in 2017. Since then, the company has grown from student experimentation at Imperial College to a serious player in Europe's sustainable packaging industry. Backed by a €1 million Earthshot Prize, Notpla has already replaced over 21 million plastic containers and is rapidly scaling up.

From viral Ooho to mass-market innovation

Notpla's journey began with Ooho, an edible capsule that caught viral attention. The product appeared at the London Marathon, replacing 36,000 Lucozade bottles. But the pandemic halted public events, and the startup pivoted: today, its compostable seaweed coating for takeaway boxes is the core of its business.

The company's partnership with Just Eat saw it debut at Wembley during the 2022 UEFA Women's Final. Since then, it's expanded into a catalogue of over 50 packaging types, from chip trays to churros cones — all fully biodegradable.

"We're not mixing seaweed with plastic for convenience," says Chief Revenue Officer Lise Honsinger. "We're doing the hard thing — making packaging that's truly natural."

From UK stadiums to European expansion

Notpla's products are now in use at top UK venues like Twickenham, the Aviva, and Aston Villa. In Europe, the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam and German stadiums are coming onboard, thanks to Notpla's partnership with food services giant Levy.

Notpla is also entering retail and foodservice spaces: IKEA's new London restaurant has adopted its seaweed-based boxes, and a new deli line with transparent, plastic-free windows is being rolled out to target museums and corporate catering.

"We don't want to be niche," Honsinger says. "We want people to recognise Notpla like they know Tetra Pak or Gore-Tex — a name that guarantees safety, sustainability, and zero plastics."

Seaweed isn't plastic — and that's the point

The team sources seaweed from France, Spain, and South America. While research continues into cold and hot drink cups, Honsinger stresses that seaweed's natural properties are what make it sustainable.

"Plastic does everything because it's synthetic — and that's why it doesn't break down. Seaweed can't match it in impermeability, and that's exactly why it's safe for nature."

The company co-founded the Natural Polymers Group last year to push regulation-friendly alternatives. According to Dutch government tests, Notpla remains the only material that fully complies with the EU's Single Use Plastics Directive without containing any synthetic polymers.

A quiet threat to Big Plastic

Notpla's growth is driven as much by regulation as by consumer sentiment. With Europe cracking down on single-use plastics and PFAS "forever chemicals," demand for viable, compostable alternatives is growing fast.

So are the plastics giants worried?

"Not yet," Honsinger says. "But they know we're coming."