A maker of edible bioplastics made from seaweed is among of the winners in a global design challenge aimed at lessening the impact of plastics in the environment.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation awarded Evoware of Indonesia, which makes food wrappings and sachets from the bioplastic, as among award winners of its first ever $1 million Circular Design Challenge.
"Evoware has created an edible alternative to the commonly used multi-layered plastic sachet. It manufactures the material directly from plant matter, making it not only edible but also nutritious. You can literally eat your burger with the wrapping still on, or dissolve your coffee granules along with their sachet in hot water and drink it," according to a description from the New Plastics Economy, an initiative led by the foundation.
Another winner is a company called Algramo in Chile, which is promoting reusable plastic containers as an alternative to single-use packaging such as sachets.
Algramo offers small quantities of its product through dispensing systems and reusable containers across a network of 1,200 convenience stores.
"Algramo's goal is to deeply embed a circular systems approach into its use of plastics. We envisage becoming a success story for our responsible use of plastic. We see the advice from the New Plastics Economy Accelerator programme being an important source of knowledge, expertise, and industry connections, which will help us achieve these objectives," Brian Bauer of Algramo said in an interview provided by the New Plastics Economy.
A related $1 million Circular Materials Challenge that seeks ways to make all plastic packaging recyclable will announce winners in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos.