UConn grad develops seaweed coating to replace plastic in food packaging

[00:00:00]Welcome back to Eyewitness News here at 6. There's a lot of talk about this these days, plastic in our food.

[00:00:05]Certainly, it does not sound too appetizing, right?

[00:00:09]>> Yeah, but most food packaging contains plastic and you probably don't even realize it. A recent UConn grad though may have a simple yet slimy solution.

[00:00:18]Your reporter Luke Heidesh explains.

[00:00:21]>> Those pesky plastics seem to make their way into everything. Products you may not even realize.

[00:00:27]The wrapper your burger comes in, the box you eat donuts from. Believe it or not, seaweed may be the fix.

[00:00:32]>> Okay.

[00:00:34]>> These days, Yidan Wang is all smiles.

[00:00:36]She just got her PhD from UConn and is settling into her new lab, starting her business Sea-Sol.

[00:00:41]>> We are replacing the harmful plastics that consumers are concerned that might migrate into their food.

[00:00:47]>> Yes, the box that looks like paper, the wrapper that seems to be wax, they may be part plastic after all.

[00:00:54]Any food on it and it may not break down one day.

[00:00:57]>> It's really the first layer and only layer that matters for a packaging.

[00:01:03]>> Yidan has a patent pending process, grinding up seaweed, changing its form, and using it as a coating to make paper packaging easier to recycle and compost.

[00:01:13]This equipment does it all.

[00:01:14]>> The area that without our coating absorbs oil very quickly, whereas the area with our packaging resists the absorbance of oil.

[00:01:23]>> The more we can grow, the better. Jonathan McGee helped found the company. He's a kelp farmer himself.

[00:01:29]The company calls on quite a few up and down New England to get their seaweed.

[00:01:33]>> And then we're creating packaging products that can be composted in industrial, home, and even marine settings.

[00:01:41]>> The idea is to pitch the product to the companies that supply the packaging to these big fast food companies, who we all know want to save every cent they can.

[00:01:49]>> It adds less than pennies into every piece of food packaging.

[00:01:53]>> If the product with the coating winds up in the wrong bin, >> if you decide that it goes to the landfill, it gets decomposed naturally just like other food. If it goes to the recycling, it can be recycled without jamming the current recycling infrastructure.

[00:02:07]>> Right now, SeaSol is using about 1,000 lbs of seaweed a year as they continue to fine-tune their process and grow the company.

[00:02:14]>> It may take a while, but this small company plans to shake up the $37 billion food packaging industry by using Mother Nature to help Mother Earth. Your reporter, Luke Heitsh Channel 3 Eyewitness News.