Imperial startup’s innovative sustainable food packaging rolled out across campuses

How a university-born packaging innovation is now helping campuses do away with single-use plastic waste at never-before-seen scale.

Notpla, the award-winning sustainable packaging innovator, is returning to its roots at Imperial College London to help reduce single-use plastic across the university’s catering operations.

To see our packaging now being used at Imperial, where the journey began for us, is incredibly meaningful. Pierre Paslier Co-Founder of Notpla

Imperial is working with Notpla as part of the Sustainable Imperial strategy, set up to deliver evidence-based solutions to climate change, embrace new technologies, challenge conventional thinking and lead by example on Imperial’s campuses.

The news sees Notpla’s seaweed-based, home-compostable foodservice packaging now in use at Imperial’s campus food and drink outlets, marking a full-circle moment for the company. Notpla’s origin traces back to Imperial’s Innovation Design Engineering master’s degree, where co-founders Pierre Paslier and Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez developed their first product concept – the edible liquid bubble called Ooho – and began their journey to redefine packaging with sustainable materials. During their development period, the Notpla team progressed their ideas with support from such Imperial programmes as the Venture Catalyst Challenge, and Undaunted's accelerator (now called The Greenhouse). 

Today, Notpla is a global leader in sustainable material innovation, and its solutions are back on campus, serving the next generation of students and the very staff who helped shape the company’s beginnings.

Delivering on commitments to campus sustainability

This partnership is a natural fit for Imperial, known for its commitment to environmental sustainability, driven by ever-increasing student demand and its portfolio of excellent sustainability-focussed research. The university is embracing Notpla’s innovative packaging solutions as part of its broader Sustainable Imperial initiative, announced in its Science For Humanity strategy in 2024. The initiative is also reiterated in Imperial’s Sustainable Food and Drink Policy 2026-2031, launched in September 2025.

“To see our packaging now being used at Imperial, where the journey began for us, is incredibly meaningful. It shows how universities can lead by example – supporting innovation, closing the loop, and educating the next generation at the same time,” says Pierre Paslier, Co-Founder of Notpla.

It’s a proud moment to see Notpla go full circle from students with big ideas, to entrepreneurs scaling their business in our ecosystem, to being suppliers in our own sustainability efforts on campus. We are delighted that Rodrigo and Pierre are still part of the Imperial community. Professor Hugh Brady President of Imperial College London

The partnership reflects Imperial’s broader sustainability ambitions to reduce the environmental impact of its activities, while promoting innovation from within its own community, nurturing graduates to lead in the fight against climate change and its impacts and use Imperial’s expertise and research strengths to accelerate a sustainable transformation for industry and society.

Imperial's President, Professor Hugh Brady, said: "Notpla represents the power of science and enterprise to provide solutions to some of the world's biggest problems - in this case by helping businesses to replace millions of pieces of single-use plastic. It’s a proud moment to see Notpla go full circle from students with big ideas, to entrepreneurs scaling their business in our ecosystem, to being suppliers in our own sustainability efforts on campus. We are delighted that Rodrigo and Pierre are still part of the Imperial community." 

Closing the loop – with students at the centre

It also helps address a growing concern on university campuses: the presence of microplastics and chemicals such as PFAS that can leach from conventional plastic-lined takeaway packaging into hot food. A 2024 scientific review published in Environmental Research highlights increasing evidence that micro- and nano-plastics can enter the human body through food, water, and air, with potential links to inflammation, respiratory disorders, and other adverse health effects. With this emerging body of research, Imperial’s decision to adopt alternative coatings reflects its commitment to protecting the wellbeing of its students and staff as well as the planet.

Notpla’s packaging is:

• Made from renewable seaweed extracts
• Home-compostable, breaking down like a piece of fruit peel
• Compliant with the strictest UK & EU packaging regulations
• And offers a 100% plastic-free and PFAS-free coating.

The partnership is set to have a major impact over the course of the next year:

• Replacing more than 450,000 units of single-use plastic containing packaging
• Saving 1,185kg of plastic (more than the weight of a Fiat 500)
• Cutting 13,300kg of carbon emissions (the equivalent of ten return flights from London to New York)

Looking ahead: a model for university sustainability

With growing momentum behind sustainability in higher education, this partnership sets an example of how universities can make real progress on environmental goals whilst inspiring students to think entrepreneurially and challenging campus communities to think about the materials they use every day.

Notpla and Imperial are exploring opportunities to expand the initiative to additional sites across its campuses and the partnership is already inspiring similar moves at other institutions.