Codibox. Reusable, hygienic plastic food containers for events, festivals and home deliveries.

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Single use plastic packaging, whilst used throughout global food/drink supply chains, has had a major impact on finite resource use, waste generation and pollution. Five million tonnes of plastic are used in the UK each year (UK Government, 2021). There is an urgent need to address plastics use, with international organisations (e.g., UN Sustainable Development Goals 12\. Responsible Consumption and Production and 14\. Life Below Water) and national governments implementing targets for single use plastics reduction (e.g., UK Plastics Pact and implementation of a plastic tax on non-recycled materials in 2022).The UK Plastics Pact commits to 100% of plastic packaging being reusable, recyclable or compostable. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, re-usable packaging e.g., coffee shop cup schemes, were gaining in popularity. However, issues with hygiene/disease spread limited use (e.g., Starbucks March 2020) as food retailers and others moved back to single use plastics to help combat the virus; Covid-19 was a massive blow for the transition to sustainable plastic packaging.We aim to create an innovative, reusable plastic packaging that is coated with a proven anti-microbial coating that destroys viruses/bacteria within 10 seconds. It is effective on surfaces even after extensive re-use washing cycles. Project lead CodiKoat will utilise their patented anti-microbial coatings which have already been proven and developed for use on personal protective equipment to coat a plastic food box suitable for use at events/venues and within general food supply chains. CodiKoat will work with collaborator Recup, a supplier of reusable cups to the events sector, to design and test boxes. We will also develop the logistics e.g., centralised washing and quality assurance, business model and impact case (e.g., carbon emissions, resource use) for a box (Codibox) that can be re-used \>50 times with no re-coating required.By building in anti-microbial functionality to re-useable food packaging we create re-assurance for consumers/retailers against disease spread from touch points. Concerns over related to the growth of other microbes from food contamination are allayed, and the hygienic surface should also reduce the temperatures needed to clean the boxes between uses, thus also lowering carbon footprint. We will initially develop our business model for events/venues which have historically created large amounts of waste, with the view to other food supply chains e.g., online deliveries, takeaways where delivery/collection logistics can be controlled and supported by zero emissions transport, once proven.