Huddersfield student discovers innovative way to make environmentally-friendly fashion out of seaweed

An enterprising student has found a way to make sustainable plastic - and even fashion - out of seaweed from her parents' kitchen during lockdown.
University of Huddersfield student Anna Watkins, who has found a way to use seaweed to make a malleable plastic which can be used for textilesUniversity of Huddersfield student Anna Watkins, who has found a way to use seaweed to make a malleable plastic which can be used for textiles
University of Huddersfield student Anna Watkins, who has found a way to use seaweed to make a malleable plastic which can be used for textiles

University of Huddersfield student Anna Watkins has been awarded a grant to help develop her research, after finding the material can be used to make a leather-type fabric which she has already used to make notebooks, wallets and even lampshades.

Starting out in her own student kitchen before moving her research to her parents' home in Cumbria during lockdown, Ms Watkins said her experimenting has transformed her into something of a "mad scientist" over recent months as she uses pots, pans and innovation to use the marine plant for textiles.

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Her enterprise, which she has named Uncommon Alchemy, has been awarded a £5,000 grant to develop the idea after winning a young innovator award from the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN).

Dried, powdered seaweed is heated to produce a jelly-like substance which firms up within minutes and can then be used to make plastic and textilesDried, powdered seaweed is heated to produce a jelly-like substance which firms up within minutes and can then be used to make plastic and textiles
Dried, powdered seaweed is heated to produce a jelly-like substance which firms up within minutes and can then be used to make plastic and textiles

“I found some open source recipes online, then I became a bit of a mad scientist,” said Ms Watkins, talking about how seaweed can be used to make environmentally-friendly alternatives to the plastic which is used for many cheaper clothing and textile brands.

"It’s a really interesting material in the way it behaves and transforms over time.

“In a week I made 100 samples – my flat was covered in jellies and slimes that were drying in moulds. I fell in love with biomaterials and it brought all the skills I had been building on together. It was much more in line with what I wanted to do.

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“I tried to grow mushroom mycelium in Tupperware under my bed, that didn’t quite work out. I tried a few low-tech things, mixing composite materials like adding industrial textile wool waste into the materials to get a mouldable product. Seaweed was relatively easy, without needing a lab."

University of Huddersfield student Anna Watkins, who has found a way to use seaweed to make a malleable plastic which can be used for textilesUniversity of Huddersfield student Anna Watkins, who has found a way to use seaweed to make a malleable plastic which can be used for textiles
University of Huddersfield student Anna Watkins, who has found a way to use seaweed to make a malleable plastic which can be used for textiles

Dried, powdered seaweed - which is often used as a vegan gelling agent in food and pharmaceuticals - is heated to produce a jelly-like substance which firms up within minutes. This is poured into a mould and can then be used to produced various items.

Ms Watkins is currently on an Enterpise Placement Year, which the University offers for business-minded students, and initially was interested in looking at fashion production, but says she was concerned by the industry's lack of sustainability and its impact on climate change.

"Fashion materials themselves are often unsustainable," she said.

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“That brought me to biomaterials, because the lack of sustainability and options was frustrating."

The fashion industry is currently the second largest polluter on the planet behind the oil industry, causing mass-scale water pollution and contributing to plastic pollution in landfill sites and in our oceans due to the microfibres in cheaply-produced garments.

Ms Watkins is now looking at ways to make her innovation possible on a larger scale in the future.

“I’m looking at bio-derived, compostable polymers in a way that’s scalable to an industrial way of production, less me in my kitchen making small samples in a mad way!

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“Seaweed is a fascinating material, but I am keeping my options open about where to go next with the raw materials that the plastic comes from. I am so excited by material innovation, it can go in so many directions from here.”

Anna’s course leader, Charlotte Goldthorpe, said that the faculty and fellow students had been delighted with Ms Watkins' success.

She said: “The Fashion, Image, Communication and Buying course team are passionate about students exploring their own businesses on the Enterprise Placement Year and Anna has done an amazing job in creating her brand through this.

“She came to the University with the mindset of creating a fashion label and we are so pleased that she has achieved her goal, and that this has been recognised in winning a Young Innovators Award.”

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