It’s made of seaweed (tasteless, don’t worry)—and can also work for things like tea bags, noodles, or detergent.
With a typical single-serve packet of instant coffee—the ready-to-brew kind that Starbucks and other brands sell for home and office use—the plastic wrapper ends up in the trash. In a prototype of a new seaweed-based packaging design, the wrapper dissolves into the drink, adding nutrients.