Cleaner Futures (Next-Generation Sustainable Materials for Consumer Products).

联合利华与利物浦大学有着长期的战略合作伙伴关系。到目前为止，重点一直是共同创造共享的科学能力。自2006年以来，已共同投资超过1亿GB，以推动知识领先、提高生产率、缩短上市时间和高价值的知识产权投资组合。这一新的合作伙伴关系将解决如何通过当前化学品供应链中的颠覆性创新，实现英国政府2019年到2050年实现净零的目标。与我们目前的合作相比，这是一个根本性的科学变革，其动机是通过新的、有针对性的、共同开发的化学科学实现净零的共同承诺。目前用于消费品(如洗发水和洗衣液)的大多数化学品来自原始石化产品，许多是不可生物降解的。联合利华有一个战略目标，用专为环境退化设计的非石油来源材料取代目前的配方成分。目前，其供应商无法提供足够数量的此类材料。这一繁荣伙伴关系将解决这一问题，通过其雄心勃勃的愿景，共同为零净值世界中彻底转变的可持续消费品材料平台创建科学基础。该项目有四个紧密集成的技术工作包。他们将提供一套通用的催化剂材料，用于从废物中可持续地生产表面活性剂、单体和聚合物，测量和预测聚合物生物降解性的新工具，最先进的预测数字方法和高通量实验室技术。一个专门的一揽子工作将详细考虑科学计划的更广泛的社会、生态和经济后果，以及如何将化学研究的成果转化为更广泛的创新生态系统。该项目将带来广泛的成果和影响，包括设计和发明可再生和可生物降解材料的新科学平台，以及制造这些材料的新途径。这项基础研究将极大地帮助英国和全球科学界发展零净化学。我们的5PS繁荣框架将用于交付关键成果。PEOPLE：高素质的研究和创新人员，具有创造和部署新知识的能力，是我们实现零净创新所需的人力资本。该项目的雄心壮志和材料创新工厂的翻译研究环境将为参与该项目的学生、研究人员、联合利华员工和其他公司员工以及更广泛的生态系统提供独特的培训和职业发展机会。PARTNERSHIPS：新的基于知识的合作伙伴关系将被用于协调一个创新生态系统(TRL 1-9)，该生态系统可以最大限度地创造和利用项目的价值。PATENTS：许多具有广泛适用性的高价值发明，包括联合利华核心利益之外的发明，将被用来激励投资者用专业知识和资本支持这些创新想法。将探索一系列利用高价值知识产权的投资途径(例如，联合利华专利申请、UOL内部申请/商业化、与商业知识产权开发团队的伙伴关系)。PLATFORMS：数字平台打包和利用科学诀窍，支撑伙伴关系，货币化和利用聪明的想法。我们将创建新的数字平台来挖掘项目见解。基于该项目新的数字资产的完全工程平台将是进一步资金和投资的重点。PUBLICATIONS：在高质量同行评议期刊上发表开创性的学术论文。该项目与全球、国家和地区议程保持一致，包括：联合国可持续发展目标、英国工业战略、英国化学理事会战略、EPSRC交付计划和利物浦城市地区当地工业战略。

Unilever has a longstanding strategic partnership with the University of Liverpool. To date, the focus has been on cocreating shared scientific capability. Over £100M has been co-invested since 2006 to drive knowledge leadership, improved productivity, reduced time to market, and high-value IP portfolios. This new partnership will address how to achieve the UK Government's 2019 target of Net-Zero by 2050, through disruptive innovation in the current chemical supply chain. It is a fundamental scientific step-change over our current collaboration, motivated by a shared commitment to achieve Net-Zero through new, targeted, co-developed chemical science.The majority of chemicals currently used in consumer products (such as shampoo & laundry liquids) are derived from virgin petrochemicals, many are not biodegradable. Unilever has a strategic target to replace its current formulation ingredients with non-petroleum sourced materials designed for environmental degradation. Currently, its suppliers cannot supply this type of material in sufficient quantity. This Prosperity Partnership will address this, through its ambitious vision to co-create the science base for a radically transformed sustainable consumer products materials platform in a Net-Zero world.The project has four tightly integrated technical work-packages. They will deliver a versatile suite of catalyst materials for sustainable production of surfactants, monomers, and polymers from waste, new tools for measuring and predicting polymer bio-degradability, state-of-the-art predictive digital methods, and high-throughput lab techniques. A dedicated work-package will undertake a detailed consideration of the wider social, ecological and economic consequences of the science programme, and how the outputs of the chemistry research can be translated into a wider Innovation Ecosystem.The project will deliver a wide range of outcomes and impacts including new scientific platforms for designing and inventing renewable and bio-degradable materials, and new routes to make these materials. This fundamental research will greatly benefit the UK and Global scientific communities in the development of Net-Zero aligned chemistries.Our 5Ps for PROSPERITY framework will be used to deliver key outcomes.PEOPLE: High calibre research and innovation staff, with the ability to create and deploy new knowledge, are the human capital we will need to deliver Net-Zero innovation. The level of ambition of the project and the translational research environment of the Materials Innovation Factory will provide a unique training and professional development opportunity for students, researchers, Unilever staff, and other company staff involved in the project and wider ecosystem.PARTNERSHIPS: new knowledge-based partnerships will be used to orchestrate an Innovation Ecosystem (TRL 1-9) that can maximise value creation and exploitation from the project.PATENTS: Numerous high-value inventions, with wide applicability, including outside Unilever's core interests, will be used to galvanise investors into backing these innovative ideas with expertise and capital. A range of investment routes will be explored to exploit high-value IP (e.g. Unilever patent filings, UoL in-house filing/commercialisation, partnerships with commercial IP development teams).PLATFORMS: Digital platforms package and exploit scientific know-how, underpin partnerships, monetise and exploit clever ideas. We will create new digital platforms to exploit project insights. Fully engineered platforms based on new digital assets from this project will be the focus of further funding and investment.PUBLICATIONS: Seminal academic papers in high quality peer-reviewed journals.The project is aligned to Global, National, and Regional agendas including: UN Sustainable Development Goals, UK Industrial Strategy, UK Chemistry Council Strategy, EPSRC delivery plan, and Liverpool City Region Local Industrial Strategy.