Already a pioneer in the beverage sector for using 100% rPET plastic, Waiākea is now introducing a further innovation: labels printed with algae-based ink. The Hawaiian company developed the ACTExact UV Black Algae Ink technology after five years of research in collaboration with Living Ink Technologies, Actega, and NextGen Label Group, aiming to replace petroleum-based pigments.
Unlike many proprietary innovations, Waiākea has chosen to make this technology open and accessible, without exclusivity. This decision is intended to maximize the project’s impact: if adopted at scale, the new ink could significantly reduce the environmental footprint of a sector that produces around 33 billion pounds of fossil-based black pigment each year. According to the company, a global replacement would be equivalent to removing approximately 25 million cars from the roads.
The company’s environmental commitment extends to the entire packaging lifecycle. The OceanPlast™ bottles are made from plastic collected in coastal communities at high risk of ocean leakage, then cleaned and transformed into rPET pellets for new bottles. By the end of the year, the company also plans to launch a limited recycled glass line, designed for reuse.
Waiākea sells still and sparkling water, as well as small-batch artisanal coffee, across 45,000 retail locations in the U.S. and Hawaiʻi, and is now exploring expansion into Australia and Japan.
