Sway sources from a vetted global network of seaweed suppliers that responsibly farm and harvest seaweed. Our seaweed partners are located around 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 use in food, seaweed acts as a common 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 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!

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. TPSea Flex™ certification is actively 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 microbes to eat, not humans. 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 scent-free.

Sway sources responsibly farmed seaweed from global suppliers. After farmers harvest and dry the seaweed, biorefineries extract its natural polymers. Our team develops proprietary formulations at Sway Labs in the SF Bay Area, creating products designed for seamless integration with existing plastic manufacturing processes. Through partnerships with domestic manufacturers committed to advancing biomaterials, we scale these formulations into pellets and flexible films.

Today's plastic industry relies on petroleum-based resin pellets that are melted and formed into finished products through established manufacturing systems.

To enable plastic replacement at scale, Sway has developed TPSea™ (Thermoplastic Seaweed), an entirely new category of biopolymer resin. This Certified 100% Biobased, majority-seaweed pellet melts and flows like traditional plastic, integrating seamlessly into existing processes. TPSea™ can be combined with various biopolymers to create a myriad of end products, like our flexible films.

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 two lines of flexible film: Firstwave™ and TPSea Flex™. View our products to learn how they are being used!

• Firstwave™ film is certified 100% biobased.

• TPSea™ pellets are certified 100% biobased.

• TPSea Flex™ film is majority biobased, and actively increasing.

TPSea Flex™ is a majority biobased material created by blending Sway’s core technology TPSea™ (a certified 100% biobased pellet, made entirely from seaweed and plants) with non-renewable, certified home compostable polymers. It's the first seaweed-based flexible film to be produced at scale, thanks to our incredible scientists and manufacturing partners achieving the previously unthinkable!

While Sway's ultimate goal is a 100% biobased version of this film, the addition of home compostable polymers currently provides non-negotiable performance qualities that help our material run smoothly through industrial-scale equipment. Innovation takes time, and we are actively phasing down this non-renewable component with each iteration.

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.

Have more questions? Email team@swaythefuture.com — we welcome thoughtful dialogue on material innovation and transparency!

If you're a seaweed farmer or processor, we'd love to hear from you! Please share your information via our Supplier Inquiry Form and we'll circle back based on alignment with our sourcing needs.

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 circle back based on capacity and alignment.

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 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 aspire to create consumer products in the future — stay tuned!