Prince William Puts Seaweed Packaging Firm Notpla in the Spotlight on Graham Norton
The Prince of Wales, known as Prince William, used his appearance on The Graham Norton Show on 23 October to single out Notpla, a London company that makes packaging from seaweed.
He was on the chat show to promote the Earthshot Prize, an environmental awards programme he launched in 2020. During the interview he spotlighted Notpla, whose name stands for "Not Plastic". The firm makes seaweed-based packaging as an alternative to plastic.
Notpla was founded by Pierre Paslier and Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez. Paslier is the company's co-founder and co-CEO, a title that means he shares the chief executive role with another person. Notpla won the Earthshot Prize in 2022 in the Build a Waste-Free World category.
Paslier said he had no idea that William would mention the company on the programme. Hello Magazine reported that he said the mention showed how personal the prize is to the Prince.
William's links with the business go back several years. In May 2023 he visited Notpla in Hackney, east London, where he was shown prototypes of takeaway boxes branded for the Earthshot Prize. At the time the company was preparing its largest fundraising round to date, according to the Earthshot Prize website.
In March 2024 he joined the catering team at The Kia Oval cricket ground in London to mark the rollout of the seaweed packaging there. Later that year, in June 2024, he met Paslier and Sam Elsom of Sea Forest in Wales to talk about seaweed solutions.
Town & Country has reported that William also helped support Notpla's relationship with Levy UK + Ireland, a catering supplier, and spoke to representatives at Levy about the company.
