What if plastic could evolve to replenish the planet?

As consumers demand more sustainable products and packaging, major brands are seeking vetted alternatives to displace traditional plastics at scale in order to usher in a new, more circular economy. Sustained, focused attention and materials innovation is essential to helping brands realise this shift. Collaborative efforts, like the TOM FORD Plastic Innovation Accelerator (powered by Lonely Whale), provide a platform for trials, ensuring that new materials meet stringent environmental testing, demands of large-scale production and performance. 

Since the 1950s, 8.3bn tonnes of plastic have been produced, with 6.3bn tonnes ending up as waste. Thin-film plastic alone makes up nearly half of all new plastic waste leaking into the ocean each year. If we don’t act now, annual ocean plastic waste is expected to nearly triple by 2040.

What people talk about even less is what plastic is made of: petroleum. The production of petroleum harms people and the environment at every step of the supply chain. If trends in oil consumption and plastic production continue as expected, plastics will account for 20% of total oil consumption by 2050. 

What if plastic could evolve to replenish the planet instead? What will it take to bring those plastics to market and accelerate their adoption among brands and corporations?

Non-essential single-use plastic can and should be eliminated. However, in the places where packaging is still necessary, biomaterials offer a shift away from petroleum by leveraging renewable sources that can grow again and again. Corn, potato, sugar cane, and even wood-based plastic alternatives are already commercially available and widely adopted. However, these materials are not inherently “good”. Corn, for instance, though undoubtedly better than petroleum, requires carbon-intensive inputs, takes up enormous amounts of arable land, and depends on industrial agriculture systems, competing in many cases with food crops.

Mycelium, microalgae, shrimp shells, peas, wetland grasses, potato peels, coffee grounds, hay, organic waste, seaweed and other materials found in nature are all viable sources of a new materials future. 

Startups around the world are rising to the challenge. In California, Sway is making replacements for plastic bags and wrappers from seaweed. In Estonia, Woola is replacing bubble wrap with waste wool. In the UK, Ponda is eliminating synthetic down with wetland-regenerating bulrushes. In Australia, Great Wrap is using potato peelings from the chip industry to replace cling film. In New York, Ecovative is growing mycelium replacements for styrofoam that return to the earth as a nutrient after use.

Rather than degrading our planet, “regenerative feedstocks” have the capacity to nourish ecosystems as they grow, giving more than they take. All of these biomaterial feedstocks require little to no fresh water, minimal land use and energy, and even offer positive benefits to ecosystems. Responsible seaweed cultivation, for example, generates enormous environmental and social upsides, improving biodiversity and water quality while providing climate-resilient employment to coastal communities. 

Unlike plastic, alternatives sourced from regenerative feedstocks can be designed to last only as long as they are needed, and decompose rapidly in home and industrial compost environments. However, not all plant-based plastic alternatives are made equal. Bioplastics have actually gained a bad name among sustainability advocates in recent years because many fail to decompose naturally and effectively, despite ambitious claims. 

Key to being truly regenerative is that alternatives are biologically degradable on a rapid timeline. Importantly, biologically degradable materials do not produce any toxic byproducts —like microplastics—as they degrade in a variety of natural contexts at the end of their useful life, like a home or back-garden compost. Sway’s materials were put through this very test by Lonely Whale, and their partners at The Bioseniatic℠ Laboratory at the UGA New Materials Institute, through the TOM FORD Plastic Innovation Prize. 

With innovation, coupled with growing consumer awareness and industry commitments such as the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Global Commitment to a “new plastics economy”, and corporate-led action like the TOM FORD Plastic Innovation Accelerator powered by Lonely Whale, regenerative materials are poised to usher in a new era. 

While the transition to biomaterials faces challenges such as cost and scalability, there are enablers that can help de-risk the journey:

1. Building for existing manufacturing equipment. Highly optimised machinery designed for making plastics is already widespread. Leveraging this existing infrastructure significantly reduces the implementation costs of adopting biomaterials.

2. Investing in supply chain, from sourcing to end-of-life infrastructure. Buy-in from stakeholders across the value chain—from farmers to manufacturers to customers and advocacy organisations—will help accelerate adoption. Policy frameworks and subsidies can also help incentivise raw-material producers and businesses to participate in the production and scaling of biomaterials.

3. Collaborating to enable scale and impact. By testing materials with trusted corporate partners, innovators gain the proof points needed to decrease the risk of adoption for other corporate participants. For example, initiatives like the TOM FORD Innovation Accelerator (powered by Lonely Whale) are catalysing the adoption of biomaterials with some of the largest brands in the world including Stella McCartney, J.Crew, Herman Miller and more. By fostering such collaborations, we can create a domino effect, inspiring more industries to embrace biomaterials and ultimately reduce our dependence on traditional plastics.

Imagine a world where new replacements for plastic—inspired by nature and designed to regenerate—are more than materials. Their sourcing stories, traceability and end of life support a healthier planet. They enable circularity, the way nature intended. 

That’s a future to strive for, and the solutions are already within reach. Radical collaboration will help us to unwrap the future. 

Views or opinions expressed are those of the author and any individuals cited, and do not necessarily reflect those of Economist Impact or any other member of The Economist Group.