Scaling up the production of bio-based and biodegradable packaging for the cosmetics industry

2017年，全球塑料年产量达到4.38亿公吨(盖耶2020)。据估计，每年至少有800万公吨塑料垃圾进入我们的海洋，在那里经过数百年的缓慢降解，产生有害的微塑料(Jambeck等人，2015年)。海洋塑料对全球海洋生态系统服务造成的损害估计相当于至少0.4-1.9万亿GB/年的社会损失(Beaumont等人2019年)，这还没有考虑到对人类健康的潜在负面影响，目前人们对此了解很少。最近的一项研究发现，英国和美国公民产生的塑料垃圾最多，分别为99公斤/人/年和105公斤/人/年(Law Et Al 2020)。这相当于英国公民每人每年使用1万个塑料瓶，或每周使用近200个塑料瓶。埃伦·麦克阿瑟基金会(Ellen MacArthur Foundation)在2016年发表的《新塑料经济》(The New Plattics Economy)一书中发现，在一切照旧的情况下，到2050年海洋中的废塑料重量将超过鱼类--以及2017年蓝色星球II的发布，引发了人们对全球塑料危机意识的爆炸性增长。作为回应，全球正在寻找基于生物和生物降解的材料来取代化石燃料衍生的不可生物降解塑料。作为回应，The Shellworks由帝国理工学院/皇家艺术学院的三名毕业生于2019年7月创立。我们的雄心是用我们的生物基、可生物降解和可堆肥的包装材料颠覆全球塑料市场，这些包装材料是由废弃的农业生物质生产的，生物质是一种可再生和丰富的原料。我们的创新材料是真正的可生物降解和家庭堆肥，如果到达海洋，在生命结束时会分解成海洋安全的组件。我们已经成功地完成了与化妆品行业关键目标客户的小规模产品试验，这些客户已经验证了性能，并准备扩大我们的技术。在这里，在Innovate UK的支持下，并与主要目标客户合作，我们将把我们的生产过程从实验室规模扩大到中试规模。我们的专利材料配方旨在利用现有的制造设施，在使用性能、甚至在自然环境中的生物降解性和规模化可制造性方面进行设计。该项目支持英国成为可持续包装领域的世界领导者的雄心，应对全球塑料垃圾和气候危机，与工业战略挑战基金智能可持续塑料包装和交付英国塑料公约的目标密切一致。

Annual global plastic production reached 438 million metric tonnes in 2017 (Geyer\_2020). Each year, it is estimated that at least 8 million metric tonnes of plastic waste reaches our oceans, where it degrades slowly over hundreds of years to produce harmful microplastics (Jambeck\_et\_al\_2015). The global damage to marine ecosystem services from marine plastic is estimated to be equivalent to a loss to society of at least £0.4-1.9 trillion/year (Beaumont\_et\_al\_2019), without taking into account potential negative impacts on human health, which are still poorly understood.A recent study found that UK and US citizens produce the most plastic waste per person, at 99 and 105 kg/person/year, respectively (Law\_et\_al\_2020). This is equivalent in weight to each UK citizen using 10,000 plastic bottles per person per year, or nearly 200 plastic bottles per week.The recent explosive rise in awareness of the global plastic crisis, triggered by the publication of The New Plastics Economy by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in 2016 - which found that under a business-as-usual scenario there would be more waste plastic by weight than fish in the sea by 2050 - as well as the release of Blue Planet II in 2017 - has led to a global search for bio-based and biodegradable materials to replace fossil fuel-derived non-biodegradable plastics.In response, The Shellworks was founded in July 2019 by three Imperial College/Royal College of Art graduates. Our ambition is to disrupt the global plastics market with our bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable packaging material produced from waste agricultural biomass, a renewable and plentiful feedstock. Our innovative material is truly biodegradable and home-compostable, breaking down into marine-safe components at the end of life if it reaches the oceans.We have already successfully completed small-scale product trials with key target customers in the cosmetics industry, which have validated performance, and are ready to scale up our technology. Here, with support from Innovate UK and working with key target customers, we will scale up our production process from laboratory- to pilot-scale. Our proprietary material formulations are designed for performance in use, biodegradability even in the natural environment, and manufacturability at scale, using existing manufacturing facilities.This project supports the UK's ambition to become a world leader in sustainable packaging, tackling the global plastic waste and climate crises, in close alignment with the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging and delivering the targets of the UK Plastic Pact.