24 Jul 2019
Industry has committed up to £149m – jointly with £60m from government – to tackle the plastics crisis through the Industrial Strategy’s ‘Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging’ (SSPC) challenge.
Georgina Hines
New funding from government and business will reduce our reliance on single-use plastics through the development of new sustainable packaging and plastics, and by creating processes that will help cut waste throughout the plastics supply chain.
The investment is part of the SSPC challenge, which was one of the initiatives included in Wave 3 of the Industrial Challenge Fund.
This challenge is one of the Chemistry Council Innovation Committee’s Innovation Programmes featured in its 2018 Strategy, Sustainable Innovation for a Better World.
‘We have all seen the enormous damage being caused by single-use plastics across the world. The race is on to develop new effective and practical solutions to end the scourge of single use plastics, helping protect our planet for future generations,’ said Greg Clark, Business Secretary.
‘This government and business co-investment clearly demonstrate that when it comes to cutting plastics pollution there is a shared ambition. This is a unique opportunity for our world-leading businesses and innovators to develop the materials of the future with the potential to transform our economy as well as our environment.’
The SSPC challenge aims to establish the UK as a leading innovator in sustainable and recyclable packaging for consumer products. Companies are becoming increasingly aware of consumer demand for more sustainable products and packaging as well as their environmental footprint.
Richard Slater, Chief R&D Officer at Unilever, said: ‘Unilever is actively working to reduce the impact of its plastic packaging. Many of the key challenges we face can only be overcome by working in partnership and across the whole system. It’s great to see industry and government coming together to find innovative solutions - as part of the ‘Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging’ challenge.’
Related links:
- Policy news
- Chemistry Council
- Sustainable Food Packaging: Overcoming challenges through circular approaches: Register here!
- SCI event highlights threat of plastic pollution
- Enzyme that 'eats' plastic waste decoded
- Fructose improves renewable plastic process
- Gove outlines new plan to reduce plastic waste
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