Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging from Plants (S2UPPlant)

近年来，我们对“一次性”塑料文化的热情已被更环保和碳意识的精神所取代，这使得消费者和生产商强烈希望更多地使用可回收或可生物降解的材料。虽然已经有一些使用这种塑料的例子（例如用于杂志或BioWare盘子和餐具的收缩包装），但它们的使用量相对较低，在自然环境中的缓慢分解率以及与传统塑料的广泛混淆意味着目前这只不过是象征性的努力。同样，虽然减少一次性或不必要的塑料包装非常重要，但仍然需要一些包装来保持食品质量，保质期和国际分销网络。通过这个项目，我们计划用木材（纤维素）和植物（糖）等天然来源的材料取代化石衍生塑料的广泛使用。这些材料在自然环境中更容易降解，不会导致额外的碳返回生物圈。通过改变植物的遗传密码，或与食品或农业废物中的其他添加剂混合，我们可以设计具有新功能特性的材料，例如提高强度或更好的保护，从而减少用于保持食品新鲜的塑料包装的总体积。我们还将确保这些新塑料与现有的回收基础设施兼容，以便在降解前实现最大限度的再利用。当然，从化石来源的原料批发到植物来源的原料将给我们的经济和环境流程带来重大变化。目前，许多天然原料来源与粮食资源直接竞争，与传统塑料原料相比，大规模生产无利可图。通过评估转向植物源性糖的影响以及更好地利用食品和林业行业的废弃物，我们将探索塑料包装的好处与其生产和处置的影响之间的权衡，无论是现有的塑料还是新的天然原料替代品。该项目的成功将有助于实现英国塑料公约2025的许多挑战，并有助于实现将英国打造为智能和可持续塑料包装领域的领先创新者的目标。

In recent times, our enthusiasm for "disposable" plastics culture has been replaced by a more environmentally and carbon-conscious ethos that has created a strong desire amongst consumers and producers for greater use of recyclable or biodegradable materials. Whilst there are already some examples of such plastics in use (e.g. shrink wrapping for magazines or BioWare plates and cutlery) their relatively low volumes of usage, slow breakdown rates in the natural environment and widespread confusion with conventional plastics mean that this little more than a token effort at present. Similarly, while reducing single-use or unnecessary plastic packaging is very important, some packaging is still required to maintain food quality, shelf-life and international distribution networks. With this project, we plan to supplant the widespread use of fossil-derived plastics with materials made from naturally derived sources, such as wood (cellulose) and plants (sugars). These materials will degrade more easily in the natural environment, and result in no additional carbon being returned to the biosphere. By changing the genetic code of the plants, or blending with other additives from food or agricultural waste, we can engineer materials with new functional properties, such as improved strength or better protection, resulting in a reduction in overall volume of plastic packing used to keep food fresh. We will also ensure that these new plastics are compatible with existing recycling infrastructure to enable maximum reuse before degradation.Of course, changing wholesale from fossil-derived to plant-derived feedstocks will entail major changes to our economic and environmental processes. At present, many sources of natural feedstocks are in direct competition with food resources and are unprofitable to produce at large scales compared with feedstocks for conventional plastics. By assessing the impact of switching to plant-derived sugars and making better use of waste products from food and forestry industries, we will explore the trade-offs between the benefits of plastic packaging and the impacts of its production and disposal, both for existing plastics and new natural feedstock alternatives. Success of the project will result in fulfilment of many of the UK Plastic Pact 2025 challenges and help to achieve the objective of establishing the UK as a leading innovator in smart and sustainable plastic packaging.