Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging from Plants (S2UPPlant)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Materials Science & Metallurgy
Abstract
In recent times, our enthusiasm for "disposable" plastics culture has been replaced by a more environmentally and carbon-conscious ethos that has created a strong desire amongst consumers and producers for greater use of recyclable or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.
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.
Organisations
- University of Cambridge (Lead Research Organisation)
- PepsiCo (Collaboration)
- Henry Royce Institute (Collaboration)
- Beko PLC R&D Centre (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM (Collaboration)
- Cambridge Display Technology (Collaboration)
- PepsiCo (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Sumitomo Chemical (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Beko Plc (Project Partner)
Publications
Description | To show how we are progressing towards our objectives we would like to highlight the following outcomes achieved to date: 1. (WS1 & WS2) Successful production of prototype cellulose-based films from engineered plant feedstocks (Arabidopsis, Brassica oleracea) and rape seed straw by casting of cellulose nanofibril (CNF) solutions. We have shown that it is possible to make films from wide variety of plant feedstocks, with properties which can be tuned by engineering cellulose crystal interactions and additives. 2. (WS2) Demonstration that prototype film properties meet criteria for food packaging. The mechanical and barrier properties of our CNF-based films are sufficient for large range of food packaging applications, although work is still required to further improve water barrier performance and reduce the amount of water in process. 3. (WS3) Demonstration that there exists sufficient lignocellulosic material in UK domestic and agricultural waste streams to provide feedstocks for replacing substantial volume of UK plastic film packaging with cellulose-based materials. 4. (All WS) Development of clear messaging for potential consumer and commercial stakeholders around positioning of biocompostable "plastics" as compared with bio-derived and bio-degradable materials. We have worked with our partners and other SSPP projects to agree the best target applications for our materials to ensure that they do not cause confusion. |
Exploitation Route | Our outputs to date with highest potential for impact are as follows: • Prototype CNF-based films produced for testing and characterisation (WS1&2) • Lignocellulosic feedstock material flow models formulated for calculating large scale capacity in the UK (WS3) • Lignocellulosic feedstock criteria assessed for computing optimal sustainable feedstock for large scale production in the UK (WS3) We plan to increase the impact of these innovations over the coming year by holding a series of workshops for our project partners and engaging new project partners through our networks to build a strong case for industrial scale-up of our process. |
Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Environment Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology |
Description | WS1 and WS2 have engaged with potential suppliers of plant-based feedstocks created by scale gap between lab-based production and commercial manufacturing and are now engaged in discussion with several new contacts including AgriFoodX Limited (agricultural cellulose), Consultancy (agricultural waste) and StoraEnso (forestry waste). WS3 has established several new contacts and potential collaborators, during the collection of data to understand the availability of lignocellulosic feedstock materials: DEFRA (municipal and industrial waste), SRUC (agricultural residues), Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (wood, environmental impacts). |
First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Environment |
Impact Types | Economic |
Description | Bio-derived and Bio-inspired Advanced Materials for Sustainable Industries (VALUED) |
Amount | £6,139,080 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/W031019/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2023 |
End | 03/2028 |
Description | EVOCATE Function and evolution of plant cell wall architecture for sustainable technologies ERC advanced award |
Amount | £2,153,561 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/X027120/1 |
Organisation | United Kingdom Research and Innovation |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2022 |
End | 08/2027 |
Description | BEKO PLC |
Organisation | Beko PLC R&D Centre |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Working with BEKO scientists to design biocompsotable packaging for white goods and business-to-business applications. |
Collaborator Contribution | (i) Provision of staff time to remotely attend project meetings and Steering Board panel (est. 1 day per quarter over course of 3-year project at £1,000 per day = £12,000 in-kind) (ii) Provision of staff time and facilities for in-house standardised measurement (ca. 10 samples over course of 3-year project at £1,000 per sample = £10,000 in-kind) |
Impact | Met with BEKO scientists to discuss strategy around biocompostable packaging for white goods (June 2021) |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Cambridge Display Technology Limited |
Organisation | Cambridge Display Technology |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Working with CDT scientistis to explore possible applications of biocompostable films with high barrier properties. |
Collaborator Contribution | Senior researcher to attend monthly project meetings (in-kind value £9,000) and provide advice on: o polymer processing to make films and scale up; and o degradation and barrier testing know how; and Member of management team to join the steering panel and attend quarterly board meetings (in-kind value £6,000) |
Impact | Meeting with CDT scientists to discuss possible uses of biocompostable polymers with high barrier properties (June 2021) |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Centre for Transdisciplinary solutions to the Food - EnvironmEnt Dilemma (TransFEED) |
Organisation | University of Nottingham |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Collaboration with Dr Gleb Yakubov (University of Nottingham) and Letter of Support (24/5/21) agreed on application for the delivery of the "Centre for Transdisciplinary solutions to the Food - EnvironmEnt Dilemma (TransFEED)". |
Collaborator Contribution | Knowledge exchange, including of workshops and scientific seminars in the areas of plant cell wall structure, hemicelluloses and mucilages, polysaccharide and cellulose processing and biotransformation. |
Impact | Knowledge exchange, including workshops and scientific seminars in the areas of plant cell wall structure, hemicelluloses and mucilages, polysaccharide and cellulose processing and biotransformation. |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | PepsiCo International Ltd |
Organisation | PepsiCo |
Department | PepsiCo, UK |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Working with scientists at PepsiCo Ltd to design biocomostable packaging for snack foods. |
Collaborator Contribution | (i) Provision of staff time to attend project meetings and Steering Board panel (est. 1 day per month over course of 3-year project at £1,000 per day = £36,000 in-kind) (ii) Provision of plastic film materials (virgin PLA and PHA, PHA/PLA-clay composites) for mechanical and barrier property testing (10 kgs of each, est. market value £2,000 in-kind) (iii) Provision of staff time and facilities for in-house standardised measurement and evaluation of novel polysaccharide film permeability (ca. 20 samples over course of 3-year project at £1,000 per sample = £20,000 in-kind) |
Impact | Met with PepsiCo scientists to discuss strategy around biocompostable packaging (June 2021) |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Sustainable Polymer-based Advanced Materials |
Organisation | Henry Royce Institute |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Meeting on 3/6/2021 with Centre for Process Innovation (CPI Wilton) to discuss large scale collaborative project in Sustainable Polymer-based Advanced Materials with University of Manchester and Henry Royce Institute. |
Collaborator Contribution | Meeting on 3/6/2021 with Centre for Process Innovation (CPI Wilton) to discuss large scale collaborative project in Sustainable Polymer-based Advanced Materials with University of Manchester and Henry Royce Institute. |
Impact | No outputs as yet. |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | C-THRU Workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Participated in an online workshop entitled "Carbon Clarity in the Petrochemical Sector" on 15/9/21 (www.c-thru.org/events) at which there was a focus session on plastic waste. Held a follow-up call on 23/9/21 with Paul Davidson, the SSPP Challenge Director, to discuss possible linkages with the C-THRU project and SSPP. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | http://www.c-thru.org/events |
Description | Cambridge Network |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | JAE delivered in-person talk on 26 May 2022 to Cambridge Network at Maxwell Centre "From discovery science to industrial applications" seminar series on the activities in the S2UPPlant project to local businesses. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | GEF21 Plastics: Pollution, Pandemic, Pandemonium |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Delivered an invited presentation on biocompostable plastics as the European representative at international workshop on plastics and the circular economy organized by the Global Engineering Futures foundation. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Global Research & Innovation in Plastics Sustainability 2021 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Participated in the Global Research & Innovation in Plastics Sustainability (16 to 18/3/2021). Presented the S2UPPlant work via oral presentation on Material Flows and in a poster presentation at virtual booth to industry and academics. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://ktn-uk.org/events/global-research-innovation-in-plastics-sustainability/ |
Description | Global Research & Innovation in Plastics Sustainability 2022 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | All members of team participated in Global Research & Innovation in Plastics Sustainability (GRIPS) conference on (15-17/3/2022) to showcase our work on a virtual exhibitor stand (workstreams 1, 2 and 3). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Interview with the Japan Times |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | JAE gave interview with the Japan Times (22/12/2020) in which he discussed the topic of whether Japan can embrace an alternative approach to plastic. Published online on 21st February 2021 (https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2021/02/21/environment/japan-plastic-alternatives/) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2021/02/21/environment/japan-plastic-alternatives |
Description | Manufacturing Always On: Technologies on Sustainable Packaging. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Interviewed by representatives scientific modelling software company 3DS BIOVIA on the role of molecular simulations in improving design of biocompostable materials. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Materials Eyes newsletter |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Supporters |
Results and Impact | S2UPPlant project was featured in Spring 2021 issue of Materials Eyes newsletter for alumni of Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy at University of Cambridge. Published online (https://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/mat-eyes-pdfs/material-eyes-issue36-spring2021.pdf) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/mat-eyes-pdfs/material-eyes-issue36-spring2021... |
Description | Outreach talk to students and alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Supporters |
Results and Impact | Investigators spoke about their work in S2UPPlant in "Fresh Thinking at Fitz: Making Plastics Fantastic (again)", an outreach talk to students and alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge (4/2/2021). There were over 100 attendees online. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | RE.USE - reusable takeaway system |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Meeting on 11/5/2021 with founders of local Cambridge start-up RE.USE, who are interested in sourcing biocompostable alternatives for plastic packaging for takeaway foods. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | SSPP ER Workshop - Social Science |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Participated in an online workshop organised by SSPP at which the sociological and behavioural aspects of plastic waste (including film packaging) were discussed. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Sustainable Packaging: Protecting Products and the Planet |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Participated in workshop organized by Royal Society entitled "Sustainable Packaging: Protecting Products and the Planet" on 2/7/2021. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |