Sway Polybag
Meet the Sway Polybag
A next-generation alternative to traditional LDPE plastic.
✓ Translucent, durable & lightweight
Stock Sway Polybags
Custom Sway Polybags
The first scalable polybag made with a planet-replenishing resource: seaweed
Sway Polybags are strong, protective, and lightweight. While this bag matches the necessary performance of traditional LDPE plastic polybags, it’s made from regenerative, renewable, and compostable ingredients, and designed to decompose after use.
With seaweed as a key ingredient, every Sway Polybag helps reduce our reliance on fossil fuels while supporting healthy ecosystems and communities. Seaweed is an abundant, fast-growing crop that can improve ocean health, boost biodiversity, and support thriving coastal livelihoods.
Use Cases
Sway Polybags are designed to protect dry goods from dust, scuffing, and weather during transit. It’s well-suited for products across:
✓ Fashion and apparel
✓ Sports and outdoors
✓ Personal care and cosmetics
✓ Home goods and accessories
✓ Tech and electronics
The Technology: TPSea™ (pellets)
Seaweed is abundant in natural polymers, which provide its stretchy, plastic-like quality. Sway utilizes these natural polymers from responsibly sourced seaweed to create a Certified 100% Biobased pellet technology. These pellets – called TPSea™, or Thermoplastic Seaweed – are blended with other compostable ingredients to create a myriad of materials, including flexible films.
The Material: TPSea Flex™ (film)
Sway Polybags and Retail Bags are made from TPSea Flex™ film – the first of many materials created with Sway’s TPSea™ resin. This biobased flexible film is translucent, durable, and moisture-resistant.
Used By
Join the coalition of forward-thinking product brands investing in novel materials that can replenish the planet!
“Florence has gone to market with Sway's initial trials of their seaweed based materials with great success, and we couldn't be more excited to be a part of a larger movement in the world of regenerative materials. Where most brands think of packaging as trash, we are reframing packaging as an innovation initiative.”
- Bruce Moore, Director of Innovation
“Sway packaging is a gamechanger. Sway Polybags are meeting performance expectations, they enhance our customer’s experience, and have an amazing impact story. Sway’s holistic approach to sourcing seaweed – working with coastal communities and supporting regenerative ocean farming – mirrors Faherty’s own commitment to building meaningful industry relationships. This partnership goes beyond just packaging; it's about supporting an entire ecosystem of positive change."
- Lisa Diegel, Director of Global Sustainability
“Packaging always presented a huge problem for us in our journey to rid plastic from our supply chain. It's always felt like our hands were tied and there were no real solutions / viable partners on the market. It wasn't until meeting and working with the Sway Team that we saw a light at the end of the tunnel and a real potential to change the packaging industry for good.”
- Aaron Smith, Chief Operating Officer
“We deeply admire Sway for reimagining sustainable packaging with nature-driven, circular innovation. With a long-standing commitment to responsible materials and practices, we're excited to be piloting the Sway Polybag in our warehouse operations and are hopeful Sway will push the packaging industry forward with their bold solutions and vision for a more regenerative future.”
- Ellen Johnson, Sustainability & Innovation Program Leader
“Sway packaging allows us to source and manufacture entirely within the US to reduce emissions, shorten supply chains, and support local jobs. At scale, this solution will allow brands to eliminate single-use plastics from their supply chains and embrace bio-based materials that better the planet. We are thrilled to grow with Sway for our packaging needs."
- Steve Patiño, CEO & Founder
"As people who prioritize the outdoors with a demographic that does the same, plastic packaging is antithetical to our brand. Seaweed bags are not only inherently cooler but truer to us."
- Alec Wilimovsky, Founder
Sway Polybag Specifications
Sway Polybag Specifications
- Made from seaweed, plants, and home compostable polymers
- All ingredients are regenerative, renewable, and/or home compostable
- Over 50% biobased content and constantly improving
- 2 – 2.5 mil thickness
- Durable, flexible, and weather-proof
- Translucent with natural cream finish (6-7% opacity)
- Printable with non-toxic inks (Algae Ink™ option available)
- Designed for home & industrial composting (TUV Austria certification pending)
- Made in the USA with globally sourced seaweed inputs
Seaweed as a Packaging Input: Why It Matters
Responsibly grown seaweed is an emerging packaging input with big social and ecological benefits. Most biobased packaging inputs (including many conventionally grown land-based crops) degrade soils, threaten biodiversity, require high volumes of fresh water, cause pollution via nitrogen and phosphorus runoff, or rely heavily on fossil fuels for production.
Seaweed cultivation requires no land, fresh water, or fertilizers to grow, while actively improving ocean health, biodiversity, and coastal community livelihoods. Seaweed can create habitat, absorb excess nutrients, and balance ocean acidification. New science even suggests seaweed farming can sequester substantial amounts of carbon!
Seaweed holds incredible promise as a material feedstock, and Sway is paving the path towards making this material widely available long-term. The Sway Polybag is an early step in achieving this vision!
EcoEnclose is thrilled to partner with Sway, a biomaterial innovation company dedicated to moving beyond sustainability towards regeneration.
Sway seeks to extend the ocean's inherent generosity by pairing seaweed's benevolent qualities with advanced materials science. They are designing next-generation packaging solutions that replenish seas, soils, and coastal communities.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is it made from?
Seaweed, plants, and home compostable polymers.
Is it 100% biobased?
The material is over 50% biobased and constantly improving.
Where does the seaweed come from?
Sway works with trusted sourcing partners located all over the world, including in Indonesia, Chile, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Madagascar, and beyond.
What kind of seaweed does Sway use?
Responsibly cultivated macroalgae and extracts. Sway prioritizes diversification in their sourcing to avoid over-reliance on any region or species, and support the positive impacts of expanded seaweed cultivation around the globe.
How does Sway ensure responsible seaweed sourcing?
Sway sources seaweed around the world, from commercial suppliers to small-scale farmers in emerging blue economy zones. While impact looks different with every supplier, depending on the regional context and cultivation methods, their comprehensive seaweed sourcing framework universally commits to:
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1. Protect and enhance ecosystem services
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2. Employ non-extractive, sustainable harvest techniques
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3. Ensure zero introduction of plastic or synthetic substances into natural environments
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4. Support cultivation in open, integrated ecosystems
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5. Preserve critical habitat integrity
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6. Prioritize farmer welfare
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Is this bag compostable?
Yes, with certification pending.
Sway designs for home and industrial compostability, certifying their products through the global gold-standard certification, TUV Austria. Formal certification is a time and resource intensive process – Sway only pursues this when their formulations are market-ready, which is why we say this material is "certification pending."
However, along their product development journey, Sway materials undergo rigorous testing via in-house methods, third party labs, and field composting partners (like Cold Creek Compost) to ensure full breakdown within <180 days (home compost standard) and <90 days (industrial compost standard). This gives us high confidence their materials will pass certification with flying colors!
What do the bags break down into?
Per TUV Austria certification standards, Sway materials compost safely into carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds, and biomass – no microplastics, distinguishable remnants, or toxic residues behind. Early testing has even shown small amounts of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium – the 3 main nutrients plants need to grow!
What is the shelf life?
Based on our experience to date, these bags have a shelf life of 18 months when stored in cool, dry conditions. With continued shelf-life testing, we will soon have more rigorous testing on this question.
Is it moisture-resistant?
Weather-proof – yes; waterproof – no. This packaging can withstand some moisture (think humidity and exposure to rain in transit), but is not waterproof or suited to package moist/perishable items.
Does it smell like seaweed?
Nope! These bags are designed to keep items fresh, clean, and seaweed-scent-free.
Can it package food?
Not yet. The material ingredients are food contact safe, but the material itself is awaiting compliance confirmation to ensure food stays fresh inside.
I love the material but don’t need polybags. Can I use Sway’s film for other applications?
EcoEnclose’s current priority is to utilize Sway’s groundbreaking technology to replace LDPE film in polybags and retail bags. If you are interested in applications outside of an LDPE bag replacement, contact the Sway team.
How do I track my order?
Your email receipt includes a tracking link from our shipping provider. If you are unable to locate your receipt, please contact our support team for assistance.
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