FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 9, 2025
Sway Seaweed Packaging Named TIME Best Invention of 2025
This prestigious recognition arrives as Sway aims to replace 1.4 billion plastic bags with its circular, biobased alternative. The company is scaling into commercialized adoption with packaging giants, signaling that next-generation materials are crossing from aspiration into mainstream reality.
Above – Sway's compostable TPSea Flex™ material is made with seaweed, plants, and home compostable polymers. Credit: Sway.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Sway, the California-based startup creating seaweed-based, home compostable replacements for plastic packaging, has been named a TIME Best Invention of 2025.
For over two decades, the TIME Best Inventions list has celebrated the most extraordinary products, software, and services reshaping our world and bettering our day-to-day. This prestigious recognition arrives as Sway’s circular, biobased plastic alternative is being adopted by major packaging companies. This signals that next-generation materials are crossing from aspiration into mainstream reality.
"Sway is celebrating the ocean as the hero of a new material future. We work with one of Earth’s most abundant resources — seaweed — as the base of all our technologies," says Julia Marsh, CEO & co-founder of Sway. "This recognition from TIME validates years of innovation and the tremendous progress happening across the biomaterials industry. Clean oceans, abundant biodiversity, and thriving coastal economies all intertwine with our success as we continue to grow in 2025 and beyond."
Sway products are scaling with leading brands including Burton, Faherty, and Florence Marine X, with finished and bespoke packaging available to purchase through marketplaces like EcoEnclose, and more recently, Atlantic Packaging. Atlantic Packaging is the largest privately held packaging company in North America, renowned for its commitment to functional, future-forward solutions. This partnership has made Sway packaging more widely accessible through Atlantic Packaging‘s sales team and the New Earth Approved Catalog.
To date, Sway has sourced roughly 2.7 million pounds of seaweed from regenerative seaweed farms, removed 105,000 pounds of carbon from the environment through associated seaweed cultivation, supported 90+ seaweed farms globally, and helped protect 100+ acres of marine biodiversity. The company has set a trajectory to replace 1.4 billion plastic bags by 2030. With 5 trillion plastic bags used annually worldwide, the scale of the opportunity — and urgency — is immense.
"The packaging industry is at an inflection point, and companies like Sway are leading us toward a more sustainable future," says Wes Carter, President of Atlantic Packaging. "Sway’s Earth-digestible materials, which feature regenerative inputs, can enable brands to choose deeply responsible packaging. We're excited to make Sway's next-generation packaging accessible to our customers, and I believe this partnership will set a new standard for what's possible."
“Florence has gone to market with multiple evolutions of Sway materials, with every iteration improving from the operations, performance, and impact standpoints,” says Bruce Moore, Director of Innovation at Florence. “We couldn't be more excited to be a part of a larger movement in the world of regenerative materials, and celebrate this well-deserved award alongside their team.”
For the first time ever, Sway’s flagship proprietary material, Thermoplastic Seaweed film (TPSea Flex™), was produced at commercial scale using blown film technology. Blown film extrusion is the plastic industry's most globally available flexible film manufacturing method. With this achievement unlocked, Sway materials are able to advance even more rapidly in terms of performance, cost-effectiveness, and environmental impact.
TIME's 2025 recognition follows momentous traction for Sway, including Fast Company World Changing Idea recognition, backing from various government agencies including the National Science Foundation (NSF) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), as well as inclusion in various documentaries including Seaweed Stories, now streaming via Leonardo DiCaprio’s YouTube channel.
"The brands using Sway aren’t just replacing plastics. They are directly supporting the growth and normalization of a circular economy that supports regeneration,” says Marsh. “We believe everyday materials can replenish the planet from sea to soil, and this is just the beginning."
Above – Sway is innovating a portfolio of compostable, seaweed-based materials. Photo credit: SnackTime.
About Sway
Sway is a material innovation company scaling compostable, seaweed-based packaging. Our patented products match the vital performance attributes of conventional plastics and plug into existing infrastructure, enabling scale and impact. Unlike plastic, Sway materials leverage abundant, regenerative resources and compost into healthy soil after use, completing the loop of biological circularity.
Sway is headquartered in the California Bay Area. Discover how we’re creating materials that replenish the planet at swaythefuture.com.
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For media inquiries, contact Alyssa Pace at press@swaythefuture.com.
