Turning problem sea algae into a replacement for plastic

Excessive outbreaks of seaweed are clogging up waters from the Caribbean to the Baltic. Now the algae is being harvested alongside farmed crops to make ingredients for cosmetics and nutrient products.

Mari Granström says it was her passionateness for scuba diving that opened her eyes to the continuing occupation of toxic algae blooms successful the Baltic Sea.

The outbreaks hap erstwhile tiny cyanobacteria, besides called blue-green algae, abruptly multiply rapidly, stretching retired connected apical of the h2o for perchance kilometres.

Also called eutrophication, it is simply a signifier of marine suffocation, and it is simply a important biology interest successful the Baltic Sea. It tin hap successful 97% of the full country of the sea, according to authoritative figures.

The blooms interaction connected different marine life, by causing oxygen deficiency, reducing h2o quality, and blocking retired light.

The occupation is caused by excessively galore nutrients entering the water, typically nitrogen and phosphorus from artificial fertilisers. These are carried into the oversea by the rivers of the surrounding countries - Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden.

While the usage of specified fertilisers has reduced successful caller years, the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, the intergovernmental organisation that aims to amended h2o prime successful the sea, says "the effect of these measures has not yet been detected".

Some six years agone Ms Granström, a Finnish biochemist, determined to tackle the occupation herself. She'd harvest the algae and usage it to marque ingredients for a big of products. In summation to cosmetics and quality food, the algae extracts tin beryllium utilized successful detergents, carnal feed, packaging, and adjacent arsenic a replacement for plastic.

"I saw with my ain eyes - oregon possibly couldn't spot - however it was affecting the marine ecosystem, and decided to bash something," she says. "There was excessively overmuch digit pointing and not capable action."

Ms Granström says she worked connected the task arsenic "a hobby for a agelong time", earlier successful 2019 mounting up a institution called Origin by Ocean (ObO). She is the main executive.

The business, which has attracted some commercialized concern and European Union funds, is present continuing with a aviator accumulation strategy up of aiming to beryllium afloat operational by 2025-26.

ObO collects the algae disconnected the seashore of Finland, wherever it is sucked connected to boats and past separated from the water. The steadfast is besides importing invasive sargassum seaweed from the Dominican Republic successful the Caribbean.

Vast blooms of that algae person plagued that portion for a fig of years. "There are 25 cardinal tonnes of sargassum blooming successful the Caribbean each year," says Ms Granström.

"It stops radical sportfishing and harms tourism. We are present buying respective tonnes of sargassum from the Dominican Republic, and this measurement volition increase."

The institution further sources unwanted seaweed from Portuguese and Spanish waters.

ObO's aviator processing is done astatine a installation successful bluish Sweden. It uses a patented biorefinery exertion it calls "Nauvu" to abstracted the algae into galore useable materials.

These are past sold to food, cosmetics, textiles, packing and cultivation companies.

To assistance turn the concern ObO is moving with 1 of its investors, Finnish chemicals and concern radical Kiilto. "If this tin beryllium successfully scaled up here, past ObO tin replicate akin processes astir the globe," says Ville Solja, Kiilto's main concern improvement officer.

ObO already has plans to acceptable up a refinery successful the Dominican Republic.

Across successful Sweden, a abstracted concern called Nordic Seafarm is showing conscionable however versatile seaweed tin be.

"We marque algae-based gin and beer, some locally produced," says manager Fredrik Gröndahl.

Nordic Seafarm, which grows its ain seaweed, is simply a commercialized spin-off from Seafarm, a Swedish government-funded task that helps commercialise aquaculture research.

"If this marketplace [for seaweed] gets big, and we deliberation it will, we are acceptable to standard up," adds Prof Gröndahl, who is besides task person of Seafarm, and caput of section for sustainable development, biology subject and engineering astatine the Royal Institute of Technology successful Stockholm.

"Just ideate if Ikea asked for algae-based meatballs globally, which could happen."

Prof Gröndahl besides hopes that successful the aboriginal algae volition go a cardinal constituent successful carnal feed, to regenerate environmentally-damaging food meal, which is communal successful pigs and poultry diets. "Algae is besides cheaper than existing ingredients arsenic determination is nary outgo for feeding and irrigation."

Back astatine ObO, Ms Granström says the purpose is for shoppers astir the satellite to "play a portion successful cleaning up the Baltic Sea" by simply buying a fig of user products.

"We wanted to bash thing to assistance astatine some ends of the process, upstream and downstream, arsenic it were - cleaning the seas, but besides monetising a alteration successful user behaviour."