Recycling and reuse remains at the heart of UKRI plastics funding
As Recycle Week takes place for the 18th year, UKRI continues to support the growth and development of innovative new technology and solutions to plastic problems in the UK. Through the £60m Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Challenge, which is more than matched by industry funding, UKRI are challenging the industry to not just develop answers to their own plastic problems, but to come together for more effective and immediate solutions for the UK as a whole.
Embracing innovation requires a behavioural change from all industry stakeholders if it is to create the same shift in consumers – and it’s this collaboration that UKRI requires from the projects it backs. This brought support for ReNew ELP’s project for converting end-of-life plastics into new feedstocks that can be used to create new products. Bringing together engineering, manufacturers and university expertise, the project aims to start processing 20,000 tonnes of problem plastics a year once operational.
A similar collaborative approach has been taken by 17 partners in the ‘One bin to rule them all’ project, that aims to simplify recycling for consumers, derive value from reused plastic products, and address the wider recycling infrastructure issues. Likewise, the UKRI-backed CauliBox project is aiming to save 15 million single-use takeaway containers a year by signing up food vendors to a scheme of reusable and returnable take-away boxes. And the Evolve Packaging project will take the reuse concept further, with substantial research into the materials, technology and supply eco system required to develop a scalable, environmental and commercial solution for using plastic waste materials to form the bedrock of new products in a circular plastic economy of the future.
Paul Davidson, challenge director for UKRI’s Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging challenge, said: “The solution for plastics has never been as simple as eradicating their use completely, as they still provide valuable resources and components to a range of industries that cannot be replaced with other materials. Instead the sector’s focus is, as it should be, on tackling the issues of non-recyclable plastics and the wider issue of reuse behaviours across industry and society as a whole. Having seen the development and growth of some of the new innovative projects that applied for funding with UKRI, it’s great to see that many of the traditional plastics problems do have a solution on the horizon.
“For example, the backing we provided to the ReNew ELP and similar projects represented the UK’s biggest investment to date in tackling the recycling of plastic packaging. The fact that virgin grade plastics can be created to avoid incineration and landfill is a big step forward that everyone in the industry hopes can be expanded. And it’s just this kind of circular solution, along with the Evolve Packaging project that has demonstrated its ability to make products from waste materials and bring together new supply chains for a common goal, that is moving the UK to the forefront of the response to the global plastics problem.
Davidson added: “Supporting the growth of the leadership and expertise within the UK is a core part of the SSPP challenge, and we will continue to work with the leading minds in recycling, reuse and refill concepts across industry, technology, chemical engineering, government and academia. This is a defining age for the environment, and revolutionising plastic use will play an important role in achieving net zero targets that will be the norm in the new modern society. To have a non-recyclable or reusable product in this day and age is no longer acceptable, and we will continue to support those innovators looking to change the game forever.”
UKRI has also provided funding for a number of research projects that will look into stepping up the UK’s response to its plastics problem, as well as large-scale recycling facilities across a number of key regions. For more information on the Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging challenge and the innovative projects it is supporting, go to this link.