Interesting Times Gang is a design and innovation studio specialising in circularity and biomaterials. Together with Nordic Seafarm, one of Scandinavia's leading kelp producers, the two companies have committed to exploring the development of biodegradable plastic made from Nordic Kelp.
The project has resulted in two bio-plastic compounds, a PHA which is biodegradable in natural biotopes, like soil and water, and a PLA which is bio-based, but requires industrial composting at end-of-life.
The process involved incrementally increasing the volume of kelp in the compounds as a filler and stabiliser, starting at 3% and finally achieving a 40% volume of kelp in the latest iteration.
These biomaterials were converted to pellets and filament, and used with injection-moulding and 3D-printing, to better assess the functional and mechanical properties, and the aesthetic results.
Ultimately the studio prototyped two beautiful lampshades, one in each material, to demonstrate the future potential of kelp-based bioplastic in the transition to ocean-based biomaterials, for circular design and production.
"Biomaterials are the next great frontier of product design and sustainable production. Natural resources such as ocean-based biomass from the Nordic Region will be at the forefront of this exciting revolution.
- Sean Barrett, Head of Innovation at Interesting Times Gang.
Specifically, industrial kelp cultivation, and scaling up the emerging aquacultural infrastructure and production capabilities, will not only provide an important source of renewable biomaterials, it will also serve a crucial role in increased sequestration of CO2 from our environment"
Next steps
The pre-projects will report their results to Nordic Innovation in early 2023. Around that time, Nordic Innovation will also launch its main call on ocean biomass. The main call will be open to all applicants, not just those who participated in the pre-call.
Project partners
Nordic Seafarm
