Biopac: Climate-Safe Packaging

PT Seaweedtama Biopac Indonesia

Biopac: Climate-Safe Packaging

We address climate change by harnessing seaweed, an effective GHG-sequestering agent, to produce plastic-free packaging with a lower carbon footprint.

Tangerang, Tangerang City, Banten, Indonesia

Indonesia

For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models

The main contributors to plastic leakage in the oceans are upper- and lower-middle-income countries. The awareness in those countries about plastic waste pollution is lower than it should be. Business sectors that use single-use plastic have not yet considered the adverse effects of plastic waste. Hence, the determining factors in choosing the product packaging are the packaging cost and the design for the marketing gimmick. More than 400 million metric tons of plastic waste are generated annually, and that number is estimated to be triple by 2060. At least 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year, and plastic makes up 80% of all marine debris found from surface waters to deep-sea sediments. Indonesia ranked first as the biggest microplastic consumer in the world, though we ranked fifth as the most plastic waste-polluting country. Among all Indonesian citizens, 62 thousand seaweed farmers in Indonesia are climate-vulnerable because of some factors. First, seaweed productivity declines in extreme weather. Second, seaweed farmers live near the seashore and are vulnerable to tidal floods and tsunamis. Third, if a climate-related disaster occurs, the seaweed farmers have the least capability to solve it and rebound.

Indonesia, an archipelagic country with an area of 8.3 million sq km, which includes 6.4 million sq km of seawater and a coastline length of 108,000 km, is strategic to tackle GHG emissions through seaweed cultivation. Currently, Indonesia is the second-largest seaweed-producing country in the world, and we still have 90% unutilized seashore. We utilize seaweed to produce flexible packaging, ink, cutleries, and coating powder through sustainable practices. Our product is beyond bio-packaging; it is truly environmentally friendly with a lower carbon footprint. Our process uses less water and energy and no hazardous chemicals, resulting in less CO₂ emissions during production and competitive product prices. By replacing 1 ton of PE-based flexible packaging, we could stop the emission of 6 tons of CO2 during PE production and waste management. To replace that amount of packaging, we use 3 tons of seaweed, which sequesters almost 5.4 tons of CO2 during cultivation. So, the total carbon capture involved in our business is almost 11.4 tons. At the same time, we create a new market opportunity for seaweed and increase the farmers' income sustainably.

In the upstream, we offer our solution to enhance the livelihoods of 62,000 Indonesian seaweed farmers sustainably and liberate them from human trafficking, while the farmers diligently uphold beach cleanliness to ensure optimal conditions for seaweed cultivation. Throughout its growth, seaweed sequesters greenhouse gases during photosynthesis, thereby mitigating ocean acidity and sustaining ocean production. Our plastic-free methodologies in seaweed cultivation will enhance global market acceptance of Indonesian seaweed, thereby improving the supply-demand equilibrium of this commodity. This plastic-free seaweed farming can serve as a paradigm for global seaweed cultivation. We provide our seaweed-based products in four categories: flexible packaging, cutlery, ink, and coating powder. Flexible packaging comprises rolls, sheet wrappings, pouches, sachets, and gussets. Cutlery comprises cups of varying capacities. Ink comprises black, blue, red, yellow, and white pigments. The newly introduced product, coating powder, aims to replace cling wrap, polymailers, or Styrofoam for individually wrapping fruits to maintain their freshness. We presently have 270 B2B clients, both domestic and international, with an average monthly increase of 7 customers.