Seaweed pouches replace London Marathon plastic bottles

Ooho seaweed capsules are made by a London start-up called Skipping Rocks Lab.

They may be cheaper to produce than plastic and the thin membrane that forms the pod is edible and tasteless.

"What we use are the constituent elements of the algae," said Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez, one of the founders of the startup. "We are removing all green substances and smelly substances," he added.

Pods biodegrade in six weeks if they are not eaten – away from 450 years or more, you need a plastic bottle to break down. The Sunday race marks the first time that they will be used at a marathon.

"The marathon is an important step (…) we hope to demonstrate that it can be used on a large scale in the future," Garcia Gonzalez said.

The modules are intended for people on the move, such as runners and participants in the music festival. They can be filled with a variety of liquids.

"The martini espresso is the most popular product in festivals, where the consumption of packaging is also part of the experience," said Pierre-Yves Paslier, Garcia Gonzalez's business partner.

The duo met while studying an innovative design engineering in London. They say that the mission of their company is to "make plastic packaging disappear".

In addition to liquid pods, they are also working on green alternatives to the food film and plastic liners used in disposable coffee cups.

Plastic waste

The startup is developing machines capable of producing capsules on a large scale, for rent to companies that want to use them to package their drinks or other products, such as sauces.

This could help solve one of the most pressing environmental challenges in the world: plastics.

According to a 2017 study published in Science Advances, only 9% of the 8,300 million tons of plastic ever produced were recycled. 12% were burned in incinerators.

The remaining 79% was sent to landfills, discarded improperly or ended up in the oceans.

The production of plastic bottles also requires a lot of energy and water. According to the water rights group Water Footprint Network, it takes more than five liters of water to produce a standard 500 ml plastic bottle.

Recyclable and recycled

The organizers of the London Marathon are taking further steps to make this year's event more sustainable.

Energy drinks will be served in compostable cups at two other beverage stations, reducing the total number of plastic bottles used from 920,000 in 2018 to 704,000 this year.

All water bottles distributed this year will be at least partly recycled plastic and discarded containers will be recycled.

Hugh Brasher, the event's director, said the London Marathon wanted to be a leader in sustainable development.

"The changes and trials we introduce this year could potentially change the way mbad participation events will take place in the future," he added.