Scale up of cellulose microbeads production for the replacement of plastic ingredients in personal care and cosmetic products

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The scourge of ocean plastic pollution has become a matter of public concern, driven by striking images such as that of a seahorse floating attached a cotton bud, or the video of a turtle with a straw in its nostril. Laura Parker from the National Geographic, June 2018 issue, says 'unlike climate change, there are no ocean trash deniers'. Earlier in 2018, UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, announced a 25-year plan to tackle the issue of plastic pollution and pledged to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste. Plastic microbeads used in personal care and cosmetic products (PCCP), similarly to plastic bags and straws, have a working life of only few minutes, but, if made of persistent plastics, do not biodegrade, persisting in the environment for decades or even centuries. For this reason, they are among the first targets in the battle against plastic pollution towards the elimination of avoidable waste. Naturbeads has been incorporated to take manufacturing technology for the production of microbeads from biodegradable, plant-derived cellulose to commercialisation, so that environmentally friendly replacements for plastic microbeads can be offered to the market. As cellulose is a natural material, Nature has evolved ways to degrade this material, but it is difficult to process into forms such as beads. Naturbeads has a continuous process for the production of cellulose microbeads with equivalent properties to plastic microbeads and superior properties with respect to current available alternatives (e.g. silica, pumice, nut shells, fruit seeds and biodegradable plastics). In this industrial research project, Naturbeads will scale-up the production process and set in place all required recycling loops to ensure that the process is as environmentally friendly and cost-effective as possible and producing a prototype production rig. The microbeads produced with the prototype will be incorporated into different formulations, from facial makeup to exfoliating products. The project will serve as a proof-of-value for the cellulose microbead production process and the superior performance of the cellulose beads in personal care and cosmetic products.