Sway sources from a vetted global network of seaweed suppliers that responsibly farm and harvest seaweed. We have trusted sourcing partners located all over the world, including Indonesia, Chile, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Madagascar, and beyond! Seaweed grows abundantly on nearly every global coastline, and Sway is committed to expanding and diversifying our sourcing strategy as we grow.

 

See our Impact page for more details.

Seaweed cultivation is a well-established and rapidly growing industry, with 97% of seaweed used in industrial applications being farmed rather than wild-harvested. Beyond its obvious use in food, seaweed is used as a gelling ingredient in everyday items like cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. There could be seaweed in your toothpaste, shampoo, lotion, donut glaze, and even the pill caps for your daily vitamins. Thanks to increased demand, annual seaweed cultivation has more than doubled in the last decade to over 35 million metric tons worldwide!

Core to our sustainability strategy, Sway works with responsibly sourced seaweed and extracts from around the world. We support emerging global suppliers to avoid over-reliance on any one region or species, and support the positive impacts of expanded seaweed cultivation as the industry develops!

 

In strategic cases, we may use wild-harvested seaweed like the invasive species sargassum, which is washing ashore in excess in equatorial regions like Puerto Rico. Watch this short film about our sargassum initiative through the Puerto Rico Studio!

Sway works closely with partner farms and processors to contribute to new research around the impacts of seaweed farming including biodiversity, water quality, carbon sequestration, and social impact. Through these partnerships, we ensure the benefits of seaweed farming are prioritized as demand rises.

Read more on our Impact page.

Compost! All Sway products are designed for both home and industrial compostability, an imperative piece of our global waste puzzle. Firstwave™ is already Certified Home & Industrial Compostable by TUV Austria, while TPSea Flex™ certification is underway, with results expected in late 2025.

Municipal offerings, farm programs, or private services are often available locally. Or, if you’d like to try home composting, here’s a great guide to get you started!

 

We understand that convenient access to composting services is key for compostable materials to succeed, which is why Sway works in collaboration with composters, coalitions, and communities to help facilitate the mass adoption of both home and industrial composting. If you're working on expanding compostable infrastructure, get in touch — we'd love to connect!

Sway materials are designed for compost, not bellies. Nori is a much better option! 😉

Nope! While we love pretty much everything about seaweed, our packaging is designed to keep the goods inside fresh, clean, and seaweed scent-free.

Great question! Sway sources responsibly farmed seaweed from around the world. Farmers harvest and dry the seaweed, then sell to biorefineries who treat the seaweed and extract the natural polymers. Our team creates proprietary formulations at Sway Labs in the SF Bay Area. Using various types of traditional plastic infrastructure, Sway’s domestic manufacturing partners transform our formulations into pellets and flexible films. In the case of the Sway Polybag, our pellet technology — TPSea™ — is blended with compostable polymers and extruded into rolls of flexible film. Finally, conversion partners transform rolls of film into their final format and add print customization in the process, if desired!

Today’s plastic industry largely relies on resin: petroleum-based pellets that are melted and formed into finished products through global manufacturing systems.

 

To replace plastics at scale, Sway has formulated an entirely new category of biopolymer resin that we call Thermoplasic Seaweed, or TPSea™ for short. TPSea™ is a Certified 100% Biobased, majority pellet that can melt and flow wherever plastic goes. Currently, we're combining TPSea™ with compostable polymers to create TPSea Flex™ — the world's first scalable flexible film, made with seaweed as a key component!

Flexible plastic film is under 10mil thick, typically made from polyethylene resin (LDPE or HDPE). Examples include shopping bags, polybags, bubble wrap, food wrappers, and cling wrap.

To replace plastics at scale, Sway has formulated the world's first scalable flexible film, made with seaweed as a key component! We call it TPSea Flex™, and it's currently being used in the format of Sway Polybags with more innovations in the pipeline.

Seaweed, plants, and home compostable polymers. It's the first material of its kind to be produced at scale, thanks to our incredible scientists and manufacturing partners achieving the previously unthinkable!
 
The majority of our formula is TPSea™, Sway’s proprietary technology which is made entirely from seaweed and plants, and certified 100% biobased. To make TPSea Flex™ film, we blend TPSea™ with a non-renewable, home compostable polymer.
 
While we work towards a 100% biobased version of this film, the addition of this home compostable polymer provides non-negotiable performance qualities that help our material run smoothly through industrial-scale equipment. Innovation takes time, and with further R&D, we’ll be able to phase out this non-renewable component. Each iteration of our product is designed to incorporate even more seaweed and plants!
 
Until our material is “perfect,” we recognize TPSea Flex™ as a huge first step towards a future we can all get behind: less plastic, more plants, and a healthier planet.

If you're a seaweed farmer or processor, we'd love to hear from you! Please share your information via our Suppler Inquiry Form.

We're thrilled to hear more manufacturers are gaining interest in producing biomaterials! Please submit details about your operations to our Manufacturer Interest Form, and we'll be in touch.

If you're a packaging distributor looking to add our compostable, seaweed-based packaging to your offerings, we'd love to hear from you! Please share your information via our Distributor Inquiry Form.

While we're currently focused on flexible film packaging commercialization via our distribution partners, our team is always interested to hear our community's ideas for new innovations. Please submit your interest to our Product Inquiry Form, and we'll circle back based on capacity and alignment!

We're so glad to hear you're interested in Sway materials for personal use! At this early stage in our company, we're currently focused on finished packaging for product companies. We look aspire to create consumer products in the future — stay tuned!