Development of bio-based and dissolvable sachets for home and personal care applications

“只加水”的家庭护理产品越来越受欢迎，清洁产品以浓缩形式运输，包装在可溶解的单一服务香包中，供在家稀释，提供最大的便利性和可持续性。由于90%以上的清洁产品是水，运输无水浓缩液可以减少80%-90%的物流相关能源、塑料垃圾和二氧化碳排放。但在市场上，只需加水的产品依赖于水溶性塑料，如聚乙烯醇(PVA)。PVA成本低、重量轻、强度高、经久耐用、透明，具有优异的阻隔性能，可满足洗衣粉吊舱和洗碗机药袋等家用护理应用的技术要求。然而，尽管PVA在水中迅速溶解，但它是不可生物降解的，可能会释放出微塑料，即长度为100 nm到5 mm的合成聚合物颗粒。据估计，海洋中积累的微塑料在15万亿到51万亿之间。当被浮游生物和鱼类摄取时，微塑料进入食物链，最终到达人类；确实，在人类的粪便中检测到了微塑料。微塑料对环境和人类健康的影响仍然知之甚少；然而，由于它们在环境中持续存在并生物积累，人们认识到它们的释放没有安全阈值。最终，尽管进行了多年的研究和开发中的多种解决方案，但寻找一种基于生物和可生物降解的材料来取代PVA仍然受到三个关键因素的限制：使用性能差(保质期稳定性、机械强度、阻隔性)；原材料价格高；而且，缺乏低成本、可扩展和可持续的生产工艺。开发一种能够与目前用于洗涤剂包装的水溶性PVA膜的性能、价位和可制造性相匹配的生物基和可生物降解材料，可以避免欧盟每年释放高达9万吨的PVA和全球每年40万吨的PVA。受自然的启发，Xanta开发了一种以植物蛋白为原料的下一代生物基和可生物降解材料。通过利用植物蛋白质的天然自组装能力，我们创造了一类具有显著功能特性的新材料：超分子工程蛋白(SEP)。SEP可用于生产一系列具有高度可控性能的材料，包括水溶性薄膜。在Innovate UK的支持下，我们将开发我们的生物基和可生物降解的可溶家庭护理香包，作为洗衣粉和洗碗机药片的替代品。我们还将开发用于零浪费洗发水和护发素香包的个人护理香包。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。

"Just-add-water" homecare products are growing in popularity, with cleaning products shipped in concentrated form enclosed in dissolvable single-serve sachets for dilution at home, offering maximum convenience and sustainability. Since 90%+ of cleaning products is water, shipping water-free concentrates can reduce logistics-related energy, plastic waste, and carbon dioxide emissions by 80-90%.However, at-market "just-add-water" products rely on water-soluble plastics such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). PVA is low-cost, lightweight, strong, durable, and transparent, with excellent barrier properties that meet the technical requirements for homecare applications such as laundry detergent pods and dishwasher tablet pouches. However, although PVA rapidly dissolves in water, it is non-biodegradable and potentially releases microplastics, defined as synthetic polymeric particles 100 nm to 5 mm in length.It is estimated that between 15 and 51 trillion microplastics have accumulated in our oceans. When ingested by plankton and fish, microplastics enter the food chain, ultimately reaching humans; indeed, microplastics have been detected in human faeces. The impacts of microplastics on the environment and human health are still poorly understood; however, since they persist and bioaccumulate in the environment, it is recognised that there is no safe threshold for their release.Ultimately, despite years of research and multiple solutions in development, the search for a bio-based and biodegradable material to replace PVA has remained limited by three key factors: poor performance in use (shelf-life stability, mechanical strength, barrier properties); high raw material price; and, lack of low-cost, scalable, and sustainable production processes.The development of a bio-based and biodegradable material that could match performance, price point, and manufacturability of water-soluble PVA film currently used in detergent packaging could avoid the release of up to 90,000 tonnes/year of PVA in the EU and 400,000 tonnes/year globally.Inspired by nature, Xampla has developed a next-generation bio-based and biodegradable material produced from plant proteins. By harnessing the natural ability of plant proteins to self-assemble, we have created a new class of materials with remarkable functional properties: Supramolecular Engineered Protein (SEP). SEP can be used to produce a range of materials with highly controlled properties, including water-soluble films.With Innovate UK support, we will develop our bio-based and biodegradable dissolvable home care sachets as a replacement for laundry detergent and dishwasher tablet pods. We will also develop personal care sachets for zero-waste shampoo and conditioner sachets. The outputs from this project will support the UK's ambition to become a world leader in sustainable packaging.