[00:00:00] Crystal: Welcome to the Healthy Seas Podcast, a show about what we need to do to have just that healthy seas and the healthy future. I’m your host, crystal d Micelli, and in each episode we talk about the problems facing the seas and oceans and the solutions we have to fix them. Come on in. The water’s fine.

Today I’m chatting with Samara Croci, the brand partnership manager of the company. Nala. Nala is a recent recipient of the Earth Shot Prize a prize, otherwise known as a Nobel like prize for the. In the category of Build a Waste Free World, nap Plus specializes in making packaging disappear.

What do I mean by that? Let’s find out. Hi Samara. It’s so nice to chat with you today. Hello.

[00:01:00] Samara: Nice to meet you. Thank you for having me.

[00:01:03] Crystal: Thank you. So tell me a little bit about yourself.

[00:01:07] Samara: So, I am, working as a senior brand partnership manager at NLA in London. Uh, NLA is a startup. I’ve been working in marketing and communication for almost 20 years and the last 15 years for companies more focused on sustainability, circular economy, recycling, and different things related to sustainability.

[00:01:29] Crystal: Exciting. And what’s your connection to healthy? Because you have, history with them, right?

[00:01:35] Samara: I do have history and one of the, the, the, the experience I’m most proud of have participated in my life, really. Um,yeah, because in my previous company, Aqua Field, I was,I was working for this company, who.

Is producing a fiber, a recycled fiber that comes a hundred percent from waste. and so Aqua was one of the free founders of the LTCs in 2013, and I was there seeing this beautiful initiative, starting and growing. I also participated to a couple of diving activities with them, which was very exciting.

And so yes, I, I, I was there at the beginning and saw it growing as it is now. It was very, very exciting.

[00:02:22] Crystal: . And explain to me what is Npla or I at first, I guess you could start with what Npla even stands. Mm-hmm. .

[00:02:31] Samara: So NT PLUS stands for Not Plastic, sometimes not p. so eh n plus starts with the goal of making packaging disappear.

and this goal means that all the packaging material that we create, Needs to disappear in a few weeks once they are, disposed of. So we are not using plastic. Not at all. We don’t use PLA of course. And, uh, which is bioplastic by the way. And, and then all our packaging material are home compostable and biodegradable.

[00:03:07] Samara: And we do a variety of different solution. Um,we are a startup, and we are based in London. , so

you

[00:03:14] Crystal: mentioned bioplastic. What exactly is bioplastic? Because it’s, I’m hearing more about it these days , in the news and through companies and whatnot. .

[00:03:22] Samara: So bioplastic is actually, for the European directive, is still something that is considered plastic, because it’s, for the Europe new European directive.

what is considered plastic is something that is not a natural polymer or has been chemically modified. Could be a natural polymer, but has to be, chemically modified. So, bioplastic is a plastic that comes from some kind of natural, um, origins. all our solution are outside of the European directive because they’re not plastic, because we are using only natural polymers and we don’t artificially modify.

[00:04:01] Samara: Hmm. Okay. So

[00:04:02] Crystal: bioplastic. Still because it’s chemically modified is plastic at the end of the day. So if you are not using bioplastic, what are you using?

[00:04:13] Samara: We are using seaweed, which is actually a great, renewable material. so it’s a great material. So from one side, not. Tackles the problem of the end of life, trying to make materials that disappear in a few weeks.

And on the other side, we are also working on the raw material, which is seaweed and plants, but mostly seaweed. And so seaweed is a great material because it’s very abundant. It grows very rapidly. it also doesn’t need fresh water or fertilizers and, uh,it actually sequesters CO2 from the oceans. So it’s already a great material to start with

[00:04:54] Crystal: , but is it as durable as traditional plastic?

[00:04:58] Samara: So I think the question of durable is a tricky. . so first of all, not that doesn’t really want to tackle every application. That is where plastic is used at the moment. Plastic is a great material that had decades to, develop and, uh, it’s a great material , , for some applications.

But the durability is, a tricky, topic just because at the moment we are producing 50% of the plastic that we are producing. It’s something. It’s not durable. It means that it’s single use plastic, so, Why do you want a material that lasts 500 years for a use that is just a few hours maybe? So for all those applications that are single use plastic, there is what no flower really wants to offer, an alternative because there are objects that stays in our hands just a few hours, but then they disappeared instead of staying in nature for five, 500 years like plastic.

[00:05:58] Crystal: What are some products that you have? Like can I, what are some examples of, of the single use plastic that you’re replacing? Yeah. So

[00:06:05] Samara: we have, seven different solutions,seven different products that are, Three main ones, which are mostly focused on, liquid content of some kind. We have a bubble that is made of seaweed, it’s edible and you can put any beverage in it.

And so it’s very used at, sports event. so you can eat the drink and, and just while you’re running. And so it’s amazing because. Events like the London Marathon or other marathons that we have done. Also in the Netherlands, you can see. In some that use both plastic and our solution. You can see the difference in the station where there is plastic with all the plastic at the end of the event and the other station that use our solution.

There’s nothing there because people are eating the bubbles and, and they disappear. So this is one the bubble. Does it taste like seaweed? Doesn’t taste like we seaweed has no taste really. It has no taste, no, this is just a taste of the beverage that you are trying, and it’s just a, a very, very fun experience and very nice.

Okay. Sorry I interrupted you. No, no problem. So we have other, another couple of products that holds liquid content. Uh,there is a one that we call pipettes and they can hold the oil. or honey, things like this that are more, dense and we have pearls, which is kind of a, the bubble, but it, it’s a little bit different.

All these things can hold, for example, also detergent. So while you are washing your hands, the content disappear and you just have the detergent and just, disappear for all that single use, application for,hotels. consumption on the go in general. then we have another very interesting product, which is coating.

So many people don’t know, but the, the boxes that you use for food to take away are often coded with plastic. So they are, often cardboard boxes, but they’re coded with plastics, which makes them a nightmare for recycling because there are two materials stick together. The cardboard with the plastic.

Exactly. Uhhuh, . So you don’t know how to handle them. In our case, it’s the same thing. I mean, it’s the cardboard boxes, but then they are coated with our seaweed material. So again, it’s home compostable and biodegrades. So in that case, they’re home compostable, the whole thing. Or I can also be recyclable.

And so those boxes are used at the moment by just. and, they are expand. Mm-hmm. , justed,

the food, I’m not familiar. The food

[00:08:57] Crystal: takeaway company. Oh, okay. Okay. Sorry about that. Yeah,

[00:09:02] Samara: and, they are standing in all Europe. so it’s, you should be able to find them everywhere in Europe. so just it, and then, That’s the coated board. Then we have also film, so all the sache that you see around, which are a huge problem also in the oceans.

We do those films and we can do those sache, which looks like they’re made with plastic, but no plastic at all. And also those films can dissolve into hot water, cold water. So again, you can use them. with coffee inside and you just throw the, the, the sausage with coffee inside your hot water and just drink the whole thing.

Or same thing with pasta, or you can also do the detergent again, shampoo, different things. And then we have also paper, see with paper. And, uh, yeah. And then we have, the latest product that we developed during Covid is rigid, which is like plastic, rigid plastic, but it’s not plastic again. And the latest collaboration we have done there is with the luxury, brand, of watches.

1. And so you get your packaging with the Watch, and when you receive it, you can plant the packaging into your garden and it will fertilize your plants and disappear in a few weeks. .

[00:10:27] Crystal: Oh, that’s super cool. And do you have, um, an estimate about how much plastic waste you’re looking to replace , with these

[00:10:37] Samara: products?

Yeah, so I have here the data that are about to come out with, with the, impact report related to last year. So this year we were able to, um, 3.7 tons of plastic, which is a growing number from the 2021 when , it was 1.3, so, so from 1.3 tons to 3.7 this year and next year the forecast is 9.9 tons. So,

[00:11:09] Crystal: .

It’s just growing exponentially. Exactly.

[00:11:12] Samara: Fantastic. And that’s thanks to also our partners, because we do the materials, but then we work with the partners who are doing the final packaging and the final products.

[00:11:23] Crystal: How is the product different than others that say they’re compostable or biodegrade?

[00:11:29] Samara: So all solution, they are inspired really by nature. We like to say that nature has all the solutions and it’s true because it’s the best research and development the in the last hundred years. So the inspiration is from the fruit peel. So like the fruit peel. Protects the content, but then once the content is gone, we have eaten the fruit.

Then that content. Can, can be thrown in nature and it just dissolve because nature knows that material and knows how to biodegrade it. And the same way our products have the same ideas and fun fact, all our materials are tested in our warmer. So we, we. check if the worms a wormery. Yes. Oh, . We check if the worms eat them.

And, and this is also where you can see a lot of video by with all, uh, time lapse of the material disappearing with the worms. And they’re true. The experiments that we do every time we come up with the new material. and you can see for example also there that the worms won’t eat the pla at all. And after like 28 days, you can see, for example, that the only material that disappear is our, in the case of the bubble, the edible bubble.

That is the only material that disappear together with the fruit pill. But all the other options, remains and the warms won’t eat. So that’s the funny

[00:13:07] Crystal: thing, the PLA is the bioplastic you were talking about.

[00:13:10] Samara: Yes. And it stays there. The last one. Exactly. Get close

[00:13:13] Crystal: to that . Okay. So bioplastic isn’t actually compostable.

Or well, biodegradable. What?

[00:13:20] Samara: It’s industrially. Compostable.

[00:13:22] Crystal: Industrially. Okay.

[00:13:24] Samara: So I, I think the main difference is that, when we say biodegradable, uh, which really means that our material biodegrades in a short amount of time, because you can say that biodegrade.

Can be anything because after a thousand year it will disappear eventually, maybe. But really the, the point is that our material disappear in a few weeks, once they are disposed of. And then when we talk about compostable, In our case, it’s home compostable. So it’s not industrially compostable, which means that you need to have pressure, you need to have temperature to have that compostability happens.

it’s not our case. So in our case it’s home compostable.

[00:14:07] Crystal: Hmm. That’s a really important distinction that,I mean, I, I don’t think everybody knows cuz it’s, it’s not talked about. So I appreciate you clarifying

[00:14:16] Samara: that. Yeah, and actually I think one of the problem with the plastic alternative is exactly that.

That there is a lot of confusion and, and, confusion, especially on the labeling and how to handle materials after, at the end of. . Yeah.

[00:14:33] Crystal: And well, you did mention that the, the takeout box, was available throughout Europe. All, all the other products readily available as well?

Like what? Can you find ’em at the supermarket?

[00:14:46] Samara: So because it’s, we are focusing on single use plastics, sometimes it’s not something that you find in the supermarket where, where you need, a longer shelf life, but it depends on the product. So there are some products that are also more developed from an, from an industrial standpoint and, and some are more at the, steel in the investigation, stage.

So you can find the justice. boxes everywhere already in Europe. so that’s one thing that you can find. did

[00:15:14] Crystal: you say just eat? Yes, it’s the delivery. Oh, okay. Now, I guess , sorry, took me a second. The delivery, company. Yes, I, I know what you’re talking about. Sorry, . Sorry about that.

[00:15:25] Samara: No problem. And then, for example, the.

Box for the watch. That also something that is now, available there. we also work with a nice brand of chocolate, called Rvo. And we did the packaging with them. It’s both the film that is protecting the cocoa powder and it’s also the box which is made with sea, with the paper, with our seaweed paper.

those are the one that you can find at the moment. But there are other, events that we have done with under London Marathon with, we’ve done the seven hill marathons in the Netherlands, and I don’t know if you are a sport person, but if you participate to those marathons, then you can try our bubble.

for example, and then others are more on a pilot phase. so we are working with a couple of big brands, so you should be able to see something in the next, uh, well just already this year, I guess.

[00:16:23] Crystal: Okay. Exciting. Well, I mean, there’s, there’s no question as to why you guys received the Earth Shot Prize and what you’re creating is so innovative and, revolutionary even.

, can you explain first what the Earth Shot Prize

[00:16:40] Samara: is? So the OSHA prize was inspired by the same idea that, that stays behind the moonshot, speech that Kennedy gave. and it was a speech and a project altogether that inspired humanity to come together and focus on some big goal. And that big goal was one, but really all the efforts in research and development and investments were so great and the focus was so strong that it was able to really change many industries and many.

and many companies and, and really focus the efforts on something, altogether. And so this is the same idea. The actual price has this, , global challenge , that is based on, on really five big goals that we need to achieve , in this. and one of those is the, to build waste free world, which is the category where not plan, won this year.

[00:17:44] Samara: And

[00:17:45] Crystal: how will receiving this prize, which is, was it a hundred thousand, , oh, 1 million pounds. Whoa. I was definitely off . How will that, how will receiving this prize help you scale up?

[00:17:56] Samara: So, really, there is, there is a financial aspect, that money is, is of course helping us in growing the company, growing the team, but also growing our products.

So I was mentioning that some products are in different stage in. Industrialization so that it’s gonna help us in developing them more and industrialize them. But then it’s also giving us a platform to talk about plastic, as the problem of plastic, but also the solution and, and really talk about. All those things that we were mentioning about labeling hand of life and um, all the, all this option that there are now alternative to plastic and how we can really tackle the problem of plastic and also connect with big brands because really they are the one that are now produc.

Big amount of products and they can really have a big impact when they substitute one material for the other.

[00:19:00] Crystal: And I, I wanna also mention that this prize is , the brainchild of a couple, you know, a few big names such as Prince William and David Attenborough. who are champions in environmental causes themselves.

and, and the ceremony took place in Boston. I know that , , many of your team members were able to go, did they talk about the ceremony and the celebration?

[00:19:27] Samara: Yes. It, it was actually very exciting, uh, really, until the last minute we didn’t know, and we just saw the, the whole thing happening when they announced it.

So it was very, very exciting for us. You were watching online? Yes, I was watching online. but it was really, really exciting for all the team. and then we also had parties, of course, but our founders, Pierre and Rgo also had, a zoom call with the Prince , which was, really, really exciting. That’s exciting.

Yes. And at the moment they are at the fellowship retreat in Windsor that includes all the finalists and it’s like an accelerator, for all the finalists. and Prince William would be there too with other people.

[00:20:13] Crystal: Yeah. That’s cool. And I mean, side note, healthy Seas is actually one of the official nominators for the Earth Shop prize.

So, um, they. put forth ideas of different companies, organizations that are doing really great work, and so they play a role as well in the earth stop prize. So that, that’s super neat.

So what else are you guys doing to be a sustainable company? Because you, you. . A lot of things going on.

[00:20:45] Samara: Yes, a lot of things really. so, this year the Impact report is coming out, in a few weeks, I guess, uh, related to 2022. Uh, so there we talk about a lot of this initiative that we have developed.

we conducted the lifecycle analysis on three new. Of hours. So it’s on the coating, on the paper, and on the fin. we had conducted another one on the bubble, related to the use of the bubble for sauce like ketchup and min. that was, something that we’ve done already. and the lifecycle analysis is really an important things to be able to state really the impact that your product can have compared to other one that use plastic.

we also did, the first, company. analysis on scope one, two, and three on, uh, our emission calculation. And so from now that we measure everything in the next year, we will start to really make sure that we can reduce those impacts. we applied for the B Corp certificate, actually something that started already Oh, B Corp.

[00:22:00] Samara: Okay. The other year. And so we are finalizing that. and then we started a huge project on diversity, equity, and inclusion. And that is also something that, we are very much focused to build an inclusive environment, also internally. . Okay.

[00:22:19] Crystal: You got a lot going on

[00:22:21] Samara: a lot. Really? Yes. And, and all of these together with all our,research and development, which is always ongoing, looking for different materials, different properties of, seaweed.

so we never stop .

[00:22:37] Crystal: No and , the potential for this product is huge. What are some of the potentially negative impacts of industry-wide seaweed farming that could be mitigated in these beginning stages?

[00:22:51] Samara: Yeah, you, you are perfectly right. Every time humanity find out something in nature and want to exploit it, sometimes that is a story that doesn’t hinder, uh, the right way. But, really hopefully, in the seaweed, industry, we will be able to learn from what happens in farming. And maybe take some of the learning and, and improve.

of course there are economic, social, and environmental risk, if that is not done correctly. because of that, really, NLY is working with different entities like this. Safe Seaweed Coalition, the seaweed for Europe, and also No Sea Farmers, which are all networks that are trying to make sure that the industry is scaling in the right way.

we also have internally in Nola, a seaweed sourcing team now, uh, which are two people dedicated to really study, which is the most suit. Seaweed for each product cause there are 12,000. Different species of seaweed and each one has their own properties. Um, so really you need to find the right one for the kind of product you are developing.

[00:24:07] Samara: And then we also really want to make sure that if the industry is expanding and scaling, it’s doing it, it in the right way. And we also can diversify the type of cwe that we are. So, yeah, basically the, the idea is to come up with the cwe sourcing strategy that includes also a code of conduct , of how we want to work with our suppliers.

[00:24:34] Crystal: It’s great. These are really important things to keep in mind as as you scale up, because I can only imagine that. can only go grow bigger , for all of the good that you guys can potentially do. you You mentioned farming, before. Can seaweed farming have some of the same issues as fish farming, like chemical use leaching into the environment and.

[00:24:58] Samara: So in principle, it should not have that problem, uh, just because normally you don’t fertilize, seaweed that sea. so ideally if it’s done correctly, the only thing that you are adding to the environment is the infrastructure where the seaweed is touched to. So the big props, let’s call them like that, where the sea is growing.

and ideally when you have a sea with farming, you are. Creating actually an environment that should be conducive to life. So it creates all that habitat for the marine organism to attach to and to live by. So, if done well, it , could really have, good impacts. And

[00:25:41] Crystal: I, I meant to ask you this earlier when you were talking about the detergent, does dissolving the product, , can it potentially negative, negatively affect the water supply?

[00:25:52] Samara: No, not really. That that goes really back to the idea of creating a material that, like the fruit pill nature knows how to biodegrade and so really creates no, no problem because it’s a natural material. Mm-hmm. ,

[00:26:08] Crystal: this isn’t, Awesome to talk to you. Congratulations on, on The Earth Shop Prize. One more time.

It’s such an amazing honor and you guys absolutely deserve it. , the potential of what you guys can do is, is limitless. And I wish you all of the luck , in the future and all the, in all of your endeavors. So thank you Samara so much for joining me today and, and telling us about this amazing product. we hope to hear.

From you soon about all of the, the progress you guys are

[00:26:43] Samara: making. Thank you so much. Thank you for so much for having me, for sharing the Nola story. and I really hope you will be able to come to London to try some of our products. .

[00:26:54] Crystal: I hope so too. . That would be delicious. Well, maybe not delicious actually.

There’s no taste. . All right. Thank you. Thank you. Bye.

Thanks for diving into the Healthy Seas podcast with me. I’m your host, crystal Delli, and I was just chatting with Samma Krok, the senior brand partnership manager of the company. Na. If you wanna learn more about the company, head on over to not plow.com or follow along on their successes through social media.

And if you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe and review it on your favorite podcasting app. I’ll catch you next time.

Healthy Seas is a nonprofit on a journey from waste to Wear. Founded in 2013, the organization aims at reducing marine litter caused by lost fishing gear. Through cleanup, prevention and education activities, the nets collected by healthy seas are subsequently reused and. And used by its partners for the creation of new products.