Next-gen Bioplastics: the future of flexible, compostable materials.

下一代生物塑料：柔性、可堆肥材料的未来。

• 批准号: 10068541
• 金额: $ 44.05万
• 依托单位: SHELLWORKS GROUP LTD
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Collaborative R&D
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=10068541
• 关键词: Next; gen; Bioplastics; future; flexible

Plastic waste is now so widespread that researchers have suggested it could be used as a geological indicator of the Anthropocene. The plastic pollution crisis is a serious threat to ecosystems worldwide as well as the livelihoods depending on them. Dealing with plastic pollution also imposes heavy costs on public budgets. **Home-compostable materials are an essential part of the fight against this problem, especially for multi-material, hard-to-recycle packaging forms. For example, packaging components such as flexible tubes, pipette droppers, and pumps are made from multiple types of plastic and require separation before they can be recycled, but the infrastructure to accommodate this does not exist.** Despite these issues, home-compostable materials are still not in wide commercial use - something that Shellworks, an award-winning startup founded in 2019 by two Imperial College/Royal College of Art graduates, is set on changing. This project seeks to develop a range of flexible home compostable bio-based packaging products based on microbial fermentation, that can be manufactured at a large scale using established industrial manufacturing methods, thereby helping to reduce costs. Building on Shellworks' previous success in developing rigid compostable packing solutions (TRL-9) and the feasibility of flexible materials on a small scale (TRL-3), this project will result in a TRL-6 game-changing innovation that will allow Shellworks to upscale its flexible material offering for incorporation into a wide range of packaging products. Including tubes, droppers, caps, and closures that would otherwise be made from multi-material components. This will pave the way for these sustainable, compostable materials to become mainstream in the cosmetics, personal care, and home care markets and beyond and disrupt the unsustainable plastic packaging industry.

塑料垃圾现在如此普遍，以至于研究人员建议将其用作人类世的地质指标。塑料污染危机对全球生态系统以及依赖于它们的生计构成严重威胁。处理塑料污染也给公共预算带来了沉重的成本。** 家庭可堆肥材料是解决这一问题的重要组成部分，特别是对于多材料，难以回收的包装形式。例如，软管、滴管和泵等包装组件由多种类型的塑料制成，在回收之前需要分离，但适应这种情况的基础设施并不存在。尽管存在这些问题，但家庭可堆肥材料仍然没有广泛的商业用途-Shellworks是一家由两名帝国理工学院/皇家艺术学院毕业生于2019年创立的屡获殊荣的创业公司，正在改变这一点。该项目旨在开发一系列基于微生物发酵的灵活家庭可堆肥生物基包装产品，这些产品可以使用已建立的工业制造方法大规模制造，从而有助于降低成本。基于Shellworks之前在开发刚性可堆肥包装解决方案（TRL-9）和小规模柔性材料（TRL-3）的可行性方面取得的成功，该项目将导致TRL-6改变游戏规则的创新，使Shellworks能够升级其柔性材料产品，以纳入各种包装产品。包括管，滴管，帽，否则将由多材料组件制成的封闭。这将为这些可持续、可堆肥的材料成为化妆品、个人护理和家庭护理市场的主流铺平道路，并颠覆不可持续的塑料包装行业。