Making cellulose microbeads price competitive with plastic microbeads

陆地和海洋中的塑料污染已经达到了惊人的水平，影响了整个生态系统，从海洋的最深处到珠穆朗玛峰，从动物的胃到人类的胎盘，到处都有塑料碎片（环境国际，2021年）。微塑料，或小于5毫米的塑料颗粒，是一种特别隐蔽的塑料污染，因为它们一旦进入环境，就不可能被清除，这使得修复成本高昂。因此，在Naturbeads，我们认为必须从源头上用可生物降解的材料取代微塑料。巴斯大学的衍生公司Naturbeads正在扩大生产工艺，生产纤维素珠，以替代我们每天使用的许多产品中故意添加的微塑料。纤维素是天然的——树木就是由它构成的——而且是可再生的，因为地球每年生产数百万吨100%可生物降解的纤维素。Naturbeads团队拥有制造纤维素的专业知识，通常以纤维形式存在，以球形形式提供与球形塑料微珠相同的性能。我们的珠子已经成功地在个人护理和化妆品，油漆和涂料，粘合剂等应用中进行了测试。Naturbeads已经确定了对1-50微米尺寸的可生物降解、可持续来源的球形珠子的明确市场需求。随着即将出台的法规（欧洲2022年），公司目前正在积极寻找替代品，Naturbeads公司处于有利地位，可以在适当的时候将其创新推向市场。通过这个工业研究项目，我们的目标是响应客户对产品的需求，除了可生物降解和可持续发展之外，还具有与塑料相比的价格竞争力。我们已经在Innovate UK 105285期间验证了技术性能，并调试了一个产能高达1吨/年的试验工厂。为了降低成本，Naturbeads目前正在进行两项工艺和设备创新，以降低建造生产工厂的资本成本和生产纤维素珠的运营成本。

Plastic pollution on land and in the oceans has reached alarming levels, affecting the whole ecosystem, with plastic debris found everywhere, from the deepest reaches of the oceans to Mount Everest, in animals' stomachs and in human placentas (Environmental International 2021).Microplastics, or plastic particles smaller than 5mm, are a particularly insidious type of plastic pollution because once they are in the environment, they are impossible to remove, making remediation costs prohibitive. For this reason at Naturbeads we believe that microplastics have to be replaced with biodegradable materials at the source.Naturbeads, a spin-off of the University of Bath, is scaling up the manufacturing process to produce cellulose beads as an alternative to microplastics intentionally added to many products we use every day. Cellulose is natural - it is what trees are made of - and renewable because every year the earth produces millions of tons of cellulose which is 100% biodegradable.Naturbeads team has the expertise to manufacture cellulose, usually available in fibre form, in spherical form to provide the same performance as spherical plastic microbeads. Our beads have been successfully tested in applications ranging from personal care and cosmetics, to paints and coatings, adhesive and more.Naturbeads has identified a clear market need for biodegradable, sustainably sourced, spherical beads, in the 1-50 µm size range. With impending regulations (Europe 2022) companies are currently actively looking for alternatives and Naturbeads is well positioned to bring its innovation to market at the right time.With this industrial research project, we aim to respond to our customers' demand for a product that in addition to being biodegradable and sustainable is also price competitive with plastic. We have already validated the technical performance during Innovate UK 105285, with the commissioning of a pilot plant with capacity of up to 1 t/year. To reduce costs, Naturbeads is now working on two process and equipment innovations that will reduce both the capital costs to build the production plants and the operational costs to produce the cellulose beads.