Seaweed Materials Initiative receives Formas Funding

Formas has granted funding to the Seaweed Materials Initiative, a project that will advance sugar kelp as a sustainable feedstock for bio-based materials.

Sugar kelp requires no land, pesticides, or freshwater and offers significant environmental benefits. With the European seaweed market expected to reach €9 billion, the project strengthens Sweden’s position in this emerging bioeconomy.

The 30-month collaboration brings together seaweed farmers, material innovators, researchers, and brands—including Nordic SeaFarm, SweKelp, KOASTAL, Manatee Biomaterials, KTH, LTH, Perstorp, Trifilon, Filippa K, Houdini, Volvo Cars, Axfoundation, and FutureLab & Partners.

The initiative will standardise raw material quality, scale resource-efficient refining methods, and develop early product prototypes such as biocomposites and coatings. It will also generate business cases and environmental assessments to support future investments.

The project aims to reduce fossil dependence and accelerate the development of circular, seaweed-based materials in Sweden.