£30million in UKRI funding for plastic packaging reuse & recycling projects

UK Research and Innovation have given £30 million towards 18 projects to improve plastic reuse and recycling

plastic bottles to be recycled — © splashabout / unsplash

UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging (SSPP) Challenge is providing £30 million funding for 18 collaborative projects to support the achievement of the UK Plastics Pact.

The SSPP Challenge is the largest Government investment into sustainable plastic packaging and waste management.

The two funding competitions will see 5 large-scale demonstrator projects and 13 business-led research and development projects benefit.

The large scale demonstrator projects focus on three key packaging challenges: reuse and refill, food grade polypropylene recycling, and films and flexible packaging recycling.

One of the large-scale projects to benefit is that run by plastics recycling company Plasgran Ltd and partner, with £4.4 million funding for the world’s first economically viable process to separate post-consumer non-food polypropylene (PP) packaging and food-contact PP packaging.

The 13 R&D successful R&D projects cover a range concepts to improve plastic packaging sustainability and support greater recycling.

They range from sorting, cleaning, and recycling technologies to RFID and AI technologies to trace reusable food-grade plastic packaging, and new recycling-friendly coatings and barrier materials.