UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has announced ten university-led research projects that will receive £8m (~€8.8m) in funding as part of its Enabling Research competition in the Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging (SSPP) Challenge.
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UKRI invests £8m in plastic packaging waste
The research awarded funding as part of the SSPP programme aims to find solutions to existing issues with plastic packaging, reduce plastic pollution and unlock barriers to create fundamental changes in the industry.
The winners have designed innovative research projects, including increasing the use of compostable plastic, utilising smart-technology to change the way food-to-go is packaged and creating new circular approaches to plastic waste management.
Winning projects are from universities across the UK and are working with industry partners to ensure solutions are responding directly to industry needs.
The projects include the University of Strathclyde, which aims to optimise the use of compostable plastics; University of Manchester’s ‘One Bin to Rule Them All’ project; and Brunel University’s project to address the problem of ‘hard-to-recycle’ plastic packaging.
In the EU, the plastics sector employs 1.5 million people and generated a turnover of €340bn in 2015. However, the ubiquity and durability of plastic packaging has significant consequences that the UK needs to urgently address.
The SSPP Challenge aims to establish the UK as a leading innovator in smart and sustainable plastic packaging for consumer products, delivering cleaner growth across the supply chain, with a significant reduction in plastic waste entering the environment by 2025. The Future Plastic Packaging Solutions competition is now open to applications, with funding available up to £150,000.