10123307Developing biodegradable and plastic-free core-shell microcapsulesClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKMicrocapsules are key to delivering product performance across a wide range of applications, spanning home and personal care, agriculture, horticulture, paints, and coatings. Home and personal care products containing microcapsules include laundry detergents, fabric softeners, shampoos, lotions, creams, and deodorants. In these products, microcapsules play a key role in, for example, protecting highly volatile fragrance molecules, preventing fragrance evaporation before use, minimising down-the-drain fragrance loss in laundry applications, and delivering specialist oils in lotions and creams. However, in many applications encapsulates (polymers comprising the microcapsule shell) are inevitably released into the environment, often via a down-the-drain pathway. In the environment, non-biodegradable encapsulates persist and accumulate within ecosystems and food chains, with potential long-term environmental and human health impacts. Consequently, the European Chemicals Agency proposed a ban on intentionally added microplastics, which came into force on 17/10/2023\. Currently lacking widely available alternatives, synthetic/non-biodegradable encapsulates will be banned from at least 4 years after the date of entry-into-force, to allow industry sufficient time to develop and reformulate compliant products. The challenge is to develop manufacturable, cost-effective encapsulates that combine performance in use (i.e., stability) with desirable end-of-life properties (i.e., biodegradable with no risk of harm to environment). Originally spun out from the University of Cambridge and now with a team of 40 industry-leading professionals based in the Cambridge Science Park Bioinnovation Centre, Xampla's mission is to replace the world's most polluting plastics for good. Our core focus is on developing sustainable and plastic-free solutions for plastic use cases where reducing, reusing, and recycling are not viable alternatives. These applications include replacing single-use plastics, intentionally added microplastics (such as encapsulates), water-soluble polymers (WSPs), and polymers in liquid formulations (PLFs) with natural, non-chemically modified, biodegradable polymer-based alternatives (Morro materials). Here, Xampla will develop biodegradable and plastic-free encapsulates, starting with home and personal care applications.