How Sway Is Turning Seaweed Into Scalable Packaging with Julia Marsh
Welcome to the Sustainable Design Lab podcast by Veritiv. Hosted by Chris Bradley and Brodie Vander Dussen, this show is your go-to resource for cutting-edge insights into the world of sustainable packaging. Join us as we reimagine packaging innovation and turn every decision into a powerful act of sustainability.
In this episode, Julia Marsh, Co-founder and CEO of Sway, discusses how seaweed-based materials are making their way from the lab to the fulfillment line as Sway is developing thermoplastic seaweed flexible films designed to replace single-use plastic in applications, such as polybags and retail packaging.
What You’ll Learn:
* How to identify when a material is truly ready to scale beyond innovation
* Why seaweed outperforms traditional compostable feedstocks
* The performance-meets-sustainability framework Sway employs
* How to build regenerative supply chains with transparency
* Why cost, not innovation, is now the primary scaling barrier
* How EPR is reshaping material decisions across regions
Julia Marsh is Co-founder and CEO of Sway, a pioneering company developing seaweed-based materials to replace flexible plastic films and advance regenerative sourcing practices in packaging supply chains. With expertise in biomaterial innovation and sustainable packaging systems, she has spent five years translating material science into real-world commercial applications, working directly with brands and manufacturers to evaluate, test, and scale compostable solutions. Her work addresses a critical gap in the packaging landscape: creating high-performance, home-compostable flexible films that simultaneously protect product integrity and actively improve ocean health and coastal communities.
Download the full report here [https://www.canva.com/design/DAG6TtfVYWk/cXOxfdp6nyiXb_xDPhiWtg/view?utm_content=DAG6TtfVYWk&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=uniquelinks&utlId=h40c8a1d30d]! to see how these ink innovations fit into the broader 2026 sustainability landscape.
This podcast features guest speakers expressing their own company’s products, views, and experiences. Any statements regarding environmental attributes, such as biodegradability, compostability, degradation, or “zero waste” claims, are representations made solely by the guest about their own products or technologies.
Veritiv Operating Company has not independently substantiated or verified such claims. Under the FTC’s Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (16 C.F.R. Part 260), environmental performance may depend on disposal conditions, infrastructure, and environment, and outcomes may vary. This content is provided for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as an endorsement or guarantee by Veritiv Operating Company.
CHAPTERS:
* [00:00] Intro
* [01:25] What Actually Signals a Material Is Ready for the Real World
* [02:40] Why Seaweed
* [04:39] Compostables Can Be Reused Too
* [06:47] Flexible Films and the “Poucherification of Everything”
* [08:40] Home Compostability as a Non-Negotiable Design Principle
* [10:10] Cost, Partners, and the Biggest Barriers to Scaling a New Material
* [11:59] Building a Supply Chain in the Ocean
* [14:02] Composting Infrastructure and Building Trust with Composters
* [15:46] Creating Barrier Properties for Fiber-Based Packaging
* [18:18] Come for the Seaweed, Stay for the Performance
* [19:19] EPR: Accelerator or Obstacle?
* [20:56] Julia’s Vision: Ubiquity, Healthier Oceans, and 100 Million Jobs
* [22:46] Advice for Packaging Engineers Evaluating New Materials
* [24:24] What Gives Julia Hope
If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube Podcasts. Instructions on how to do this are here [https://www.fame.so/follow-rate-review].
Sustainable Design Lab is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so [https://www.fame.so/?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=bcast&utm_campaign=masters-of-community-with-david-spinks?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=bcast&utm_campaign=fame-client]
Previous guests include: Sam Boex & Bella Collins of Flexi-Hex, Nathan Pajka of Metsä Board, John Felts of Cruz Foam
Check out our three most downloaded episodes:
1. Plastic-Free Paper Packaging: Flexi-Hex on Designing for Luxury and Sustainability [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/plastic-free-paper-packaging-flexi-hex-on-designing/id1805605532?i=1000729335332]
2. How Metsä Board Is Redesigning Packaging From Forest to Shelf with Nathan Pajka [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-mets%C3%A4-board-is-redesigning-packaging-from-forest/id1805605532?i=1000731799367]
3. The Future of Foam: Compostable Materials That Perform with John Felts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-future-of-foam-compostable-materials-that/id1805605532?i=1000733870230]
