Packing based on seaweed

A versatile raw material

Agar Plasticity is a materials research project investigating agar as an alternative to synthetic plastics. Agar is a traditional Japanese foodstuff that is often used to make sweets. However, it is also used worldwide in the scientific and medical fields. It is mainly sold in its dried
state in the form of blocks, flakes and powder. Block agar has a porous, feather-like structure and is very light despite its volume – ideal properties for a packaging material. The raw material is two types of red algae that grow and are harvested worldwide. The agar is extracted by boiling.

Product name: Agar Plasticity
Manufacturer: Kosuke Araki
Project status: Concept // Prototype // Ready for market // Ready for series production

Source: Peters, Sascha; Drewes, Diana: Materials in Progress. Innovations for Designers and Architects, Basel 2019, p. 93.
Image source: Kosuke Araki