Developing plant-based and biodegradable thermoplastic pellets to replace plastic

塑料颗粒(“托盘”)是几乎所有塑料产品的生产前构件。然而，这些直径不到5毫米的微小而轻质的颗粒(被归类为初级微塑料)在塑料供应链的每一点上(在生产、运输和制造过程中)都会丢失，甚至在被用于制造任何有用的东西之前就会到达环境中。在英国，据估计，每年有多达530亿个塑料颗粒(重1054吨)流入海洋(Cole和Sherrington，2016)，而在整个欧洲，每年高达78,000吨(3.9万亿)进入海洋(Hann等人，2018)。全球每年有近23万吨球团(11.5万亿)流入海洋(Sherrington，2016)。颗粒物的释放导致了塑料和气候危机。在海洋中损失的23万吨/年的颗粒生产消耗了超过28万吨/年的不可再生原油(邱和谭，2010年)，并导致每年排放约690,000吨二氧化碳当量排放(Harding等人，2007年)。在海洋中，塑料颗粒持续存在并生物积累，充当“有毒海绵”和化学品(Mato等人，2001年)和有害细菌(Rodrigues等人，2019年)的运输媒介，进入食物链并最终到达人类(Danopoulos等人，2022年)。在全球范围内，每年有数百万吨塑料颗粒被加工成一次性软性塑料包装膜。这种薄膜在使用中提供了性能，但具有较差的寿命结束特性。胶片的收集、分类和回收具有挑战性，通常被送往垃圾填埋场或焚烧，通常会到达环境中。一旦进入环境，薄膜就是不可生物降解的，并释放出持久性的微塑料。随着2019年全球塑料产量达到3.68亿吨(欧洲生物塑料，2020年)，预计2020年至2030年将进一步增长32%(Statista，2020年)，迫切需要开发基于生物和可生物降解的替代品，特别是用于一次性软包装薄膜，其寿命结束选择有限。为塑料制造商(“转化器”)开发一次性解决方案是规模化采用的关键。受自然的启发，Xanta开发了一种由植物蛋白生产的下一代生物基和可生物降解的材料。在Innovate UK的支持下，我们将开发以植物为基础的可生物降解的热塑性塑料薄膜，作为由热塑性塑料颗粒制造的塑料薄膜的替代产品。该项目的产出将支持英国成为可持续包装领域的世界领先者的雄心，以应对全球塑料和气候危机。

Plastic pellets (“nurdles”) are the pre-production building blocks for nearly all plastic products. However, with a diameter of less than 5 mm, these tiny and lightweight particles (classed as primary microplastics) are lost at every point in the plastics supply chain (during production, transport, and manufacturing), reaching the environment even before being used to make anything useful.In the UK, it is estimated that up to 53 billion plastic pellets (weighing 1,054 tonnes) reach the oceans each year (Cole and Sherrington, 2016), while across Europe up to 78,000 tonnes/year (3.9 trillion) enter the oceans (Hann et al., 2018), and globally nearly 230,000 tonnes/year of pellets (11.5 trillion) reach the oceans (Sherrington, 2016). Pellet release contributes to both the plastics and climate crises. The production of 230,000 tonnes/year of pellets lost in the oceans consumes over 280,000 tonnes/year of non-renewable crude oil (Khoo and Tan, 2010) and is responsible for releasing approximately 690,000 tonnes/year of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (Harding et al., 2007). In the oceans, plastic pellets persist and bioaccumulate, acting as “toxic sponges” and transport vectors for chemicals (Mato et al., 2001) and harmful bacteria (Rodrigues et al., 2019), entering the food chain and ultimately reaching humans (Danopoulos et al., 2022). Globally, millions of tonnes of plastic pellets are processed each year into single-use flexible plastic packaging film. This film delivers performance in use, but has poor end-of-life characteristics. Film is challenging to collect, sort, and recycle and is typically sent to landfill, or for incineration, often reaching the environment. Once in the environment, film is non-biodegradable and releases persistent microplastics. With global plastics production reaching 368 million tonnes in 2019 (European Bioplastics, 2020) and predicted to increase by a further 32% between 2020 and 2030 (Statista, 2020), there is an urgent need to develop bio-based and biodegradable alternatives, especially for single-use flexible packaging film that has limited end-of-life options. The development of a drop-in solution for plastics manufacturers (“converters”) is critical to adoption at scale. Inspired by nature, Xampla has developed a next-generation bio-based and biodegradable material produced from plant proteins. With Innovate UK support, we will develop plant-based and biodegradable thermoplastic film as a drop-in replacement for plastic films manufactured from thermoplastic pellets. The project outputs will support the UK's ambition to become a world leader in sustainable packaging, addressing global plastics and climate crises.