UK funding for consumer plastic packaging innovation
UK Research and Innovation invest nearly £2mln in 14 projects to address consumer problems with plastic packaging.
The Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging challenge, which aims to address consumer issues with plastic packaging, has allocated approximately £2mln to 14 projects across the UK.
Funded through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the initiative aims to develop better options for future plastic packaging. The 14 projects will engage with an extensive network of stakeholders from the plastic packaging value chain to develop solutions for the complete plastic packaging lifecycle, including production, design, recycling and reuse.
To date, the programme has invested over £30mln for innovation in smart and sustainable plastic packaging for consumer products. Projects include a number of new bio-based, high-performance polymers which have the potential to replace the current oil-based plastic packaging materials in multiple applications for everyday consumer products. Funding will also help prototype new cleaning product ranges in reusable and refillable packaging, which when disposed of, will create significantly lower CO2 emissions than single-use alternatives.
UK Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said, 'People want to be able to buy products that are better for the environment and use less plastic. This fund is helping to create new packaging materials that are less harmful to the planet, as well as packaging for products that can either be refilled or easily recycled at home. This innovation will help us reach our goal of eliminating all avoidable plastic waste by 2024 and builds on our landmark Environment Bill which will let us introduce deposit return schemes for plastic drinks containers and make companies more responsible for the packaging they produce.'
Paul Davidson, Challenge Director for the Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging challenge, is excited by the initiative. 'We are funding some really smart innovations for consumer packaging,' he said. 'When these projects move into the distribution phase, we are going to see some big changes in how we shop, our experiences with food packaging and what we understand to be plastic packaging. A change in our behaviour will be the driving point for this change in moving from single-use plastics to reuse, refill and recyclable solutions.'
The final round of funding from the Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging challenge is open to applications, and you can apply here.
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