Our Mission
Shaping Impact
While we plan to expand our technology to other applications in the packaging industry, our focus now is on reducing the waste generated by plastic cups and packaging films.
Our products will significantly and evidentially minimize the impact of packaging on our environment.
Raising Awareness
Plastic waste negatively impacts both the ecosystem and human health. Despite the magnitude of the problem, the public and key stakeholders are not sufficiently engaged and educated on how they can be part of the solution.
We aim to improve the understanding of the dangers of plastic, and to empower more people and organizations to take action.
Creating Innovation
Noriware creates innovation by tapping into the power of rapidly renewable algae. The production of the raw material creates a negative carbon footprint, with the final product leaving no residual waste.
Noriware's innovation gives new meaning to algae and offers a CO2-neutral alternative to conventional everyday packaging.
Our Vision
We want to revolutionize the packaging industry by offering a truly sustainable, home-compostable alternative to traditional plastic. In doing so, we want to be the leader in transparency to motivate the industry to be sustainable.
Our Team
Prof. Karsten Frick
Lecturer for high performance polymers
Daniel Widner
Material Scientist
Michael Spälti
Chemist
Daniel Zürcher
Plastics Technologist
Advisory Board
Prof. Markus Grob
Advisor Chemistry
Prof. Christian Brauner
Advisor Engineering
Christoph Tonini
Business Advisor
How it started
A fun thought turned into passion
When Jessica was on holiday in Mexico, she became aware of all the seaweed washing up on the beaches and wondered which existing products contained seaweed. When she returned to Switzerland and had to study for her degree in international affairs at the University of St. Gallen, she started researching the potential of algae and realised that algae had the right properties to be transformed into sustainable packaging. She then ordered all the necessary materials home and tried to make plastic herself, with her first experiment taking a proverbial tumble. Because while changing in the morning, she accidentally threw her pants on the shelf where she was letting her film dry. Since she didn't have time to wash them, she let them dry on a chair. When she came home in the evening, the perfect plastic film had formed on her pants. From that moment on a fun thought turned into a passion.
Without a scientific background and other experience in the field of materials science however, it was initially difficult to produce usable prototypes at home. She therefore submitted a research proposal to ETH Zurich, which was approved within short time.
With the excellent research results from ETH, she needed a team with which she could pursue her vision. Julius, a chemist and materials scientist at ETH, didn't take long to be swept up by the idea. He had already worked out a six-month research plan before the first official meeting. Stefan has become acquainted with many polymer approaches through his job and his studies at the Institute of Polymer Technology. So far, however, none has convinced him as much as our algae concept. Finally, Leander, with a degree in environmental engineering from ETH and a strong personal interest in taking action against microplastics, heard from us and was eager to join our mission.