According to Biofuel Daily, Notpla decided to replace plastic packaging with highly biodegradable and even edible one based on algae.

French co-founder Pierre Paslier said that "just being there is a massive boost to our visibility."

"So that's already a huge asset to be part of the finalists and I think that if we win, it's just going to be that on a much larger scale."

The Earthshot prize is a British award which started in 2021 and is offered to five winners who come up with some of the most innovative environment-oriented solutions. Each of the five winners get one million GBP for their efforts.

Pierre Paslier began working on the idea of biodegradable packaging with co-founder Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez in a small kitchen and after experimenting with multiple materials, they found that seaweed gives them the best results.

"Now we have a flexible film, we make seaweed paper, we have rigid materials. So, it's really the beginning of a family of seaweed-based technologies that hopefully can help us stop using so much plastic", Paslier said.

One of their solutions turned out to be a great alternative for bottles and other beverage packaging, especially since it was also edible.

It can be used at many events where cups and bottles could end up as trash, such as festivals and concerts and it was even used at the 2019 London run.

Despite the fact that their packaging is more expensive compared to what's out there on the market as far as petroleum-based materials are concerned, Paslier believes that Notpla's alternative will pay itself off in the future.

"This is basically going to be paid for [by] the next generations and that doesn't come into the price of plastic that you buy on the market today," he said.

"So, what we want is to be the most affordable, sustainable packaging solution that takes into account its whole lifetime costs."

Also, due to seaweed's nature, meaning a fast-growing plant that doesn't need fertilizers or freshwater, this alternative can be very sustainable in the long-run.