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

海洋塑料污染的祸害已经成为公众关注的问题，这是由一些引人注目的图像推动的，比如一只附着在棉花芽上的海马漂浮在海面上，或者一只鼻孔里插着稻草的海龟的视频。劳拉·帕克来自《国家地理》杂志2018年6月刊，她说：“与气候变化不同，没有人否认海洋垃圾。”2018年初，英国首相特蕾莎·梅宣布了一项为期25年的计划，以解决塑料污染问题，并承诺消除所有可避免的塑料垃圾。用于个人护理和化妆品（PCCP）的塑料微珠，与塑料袋和吸管类似，只有几分钟的工作寿命，但是，如果由持久性塑料制成，则不能生物降解，在环境中持续存在数十年甚至数百年。因此，它们是消除可避免垃圾的塑料污染斗争的首批目标之一。Naturbeads已与公司合作，将利用可生物降解的植物纤维素生产微珠的制造技术推向商业化，从而为市场提供环保的塑料微珠替代品。由于纤维素是一种天然材料，大自然已经进化出了降解这种材料的方法，但很难将其加工成珠子这样的形式。Naturbeads拥有连续生产纤维素微珠的工艺，其性能与塑料微珠相当，并且优于当前可用的替代品（例如二氧化硅、浮石、坚果壳、水果种子和可生物降解塑料）。在这个工业研究项目中，Naturbeads公司将扩大生产过程，并设置所有必要的回收循环，以确保该过程尽可能环保和具有成本效益，并生产一个原型生产钻机。用原型生产的微珠将被加入到不同的配方中，从化妆品到去角质产品。该项目将作为纤维素微珠生产工艺的价值证明，以及纤维素微珠在个人护理和化妆品中的卓越性能。

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.