Perpetual Plastic for Food to Go (PPFTG)
Lead Research Organisation:
Loughborough University
Department Name: Loughborough Design School
Abstract
This innovative multi-disciplinary project will develop, prototype, and evaluate a novel circular business model that combines smart-technology enabled products and services to reduce the environmental, societal, and economic impact of Food-to-go packaging.
Food-to-go (FTG), fresh and chilled foods such as sandwiches and prepared salads sold by food retailers for consumption out of the home, is a growing UK market driven by the rise in convenience lifestyles. The FTG industry at present yields a significant amount of single-use packaging waste which is detrimental to our planet, but also represents substantial resource value loss. Driven by traditional business models that operate on a 'take-make-dispose' economic system, efforts to transform the FTG industry to a more circular economic system (the Circular Economy (CE)), one in which plastic packaging is no longer single-use and resource value is retained within a loop, have been limited. This is partly due to the lack of historic cooperation across the supply chain to define and address the problem; the complexity of transitioning multiple industry and consumer stakeholders to a new circular approach; and the lack of understanding of consumer behaviour.
Recognising that no one single approach will overcome the identified problems, we bring together academics with expertise in sustainable design, sustainable manufacturing, and polymer chemistry with project partners that represent the interests of all operators and stages within the FTG supply chain; from manufacturer through to retailer. Together, we will use a combined approach of novel smart technologies and quality assurance methods, in-depth understanding and modelling of consumer behaviour, and comprehensive supply chain value assessment to propose a novel future FTG Circular Product-Service System (CPSS).
Specifically, the project will: (i) develop and validate novel combinations of 'track and trace' smart sensors, tracking, end of life detection technologies, and robust quality control systems to support the design and development of new FTG CPSS concepts that could maximise the lifetime of plastic packaging, enhance resource management, and reduce premature waste disposal; (ii) define how 'value' is prioritised, moved, and maintained within existing FTG supply chains so to develop new tools and methods for determining the necessary supply-side value movements and flows within new FTG CPSS concepts; (iii) seek to understand current consumer behaviours with existing FTG packaging in order to propose new tools and methods that enable and evaluate meaningful behaviour change towards less resource intense and environmentally destructive demand-side action; (iv) take a structured co-design approach that partners academic research with industry experience to create, based on the findings above, and evaluate, through live proof-of-concept prototype trials, a novel FTG CPSS that will improve the environmental, societal, and economic impact of FTG packaging.
The project will be as far as possible 'open source' through academic publication, industry networking, and a vibrant digital social media presence to help foster the UK and international transition to CE, disseminating and translating project outputs to both academia and industry. Outputs will include: Track and trace, cleaning, and detection technology concepts with feasibility/stability studies and design implications; supply chain value indicators and datasets, resource and value flow models, and evaluation tools; consumer behaviour baseline dataset and modelling tools, with personas and scenarios of use; and a novel FTG CPSS concept with validated proof-of-concept packaging prototypes, and business/service modelling and blueprints. We will also produce a toolkit for policymakers which will synthesise the generated tools, methods, and case study examples to both underline and reinforce our impact and the national importance of our findings.
Food-to-go (FTG), fresh and chilled foods such as sandwiches and prepared salads sold by food retailers for consumption out of the home, is a growing UK market driven by the rise in convenience lifestyles. The FTG industry at present yields a significant amount of single-use packaging waste which is detrimental to our planet, but also represents substantial resource value loss. Driven by traditional business models that operate on a 'take-make-dispose' economic system, efforts to transform the FTG industry to a more circular economic system (the Circular Economy (CE)), one in which plastic packaging is no longer single-use and resource value is retained within a loop, have been limited. This is partly due to the lack of historic cooperation across the supply chain to define and address the problem; the complexity of transitioning multiple industry and consumer stakeholders to a new circular approach; and the lack of understanding of consumer behaviour.
Recognising that no one single approach will overcome the identified problems, we bring together academics with expertise in sustainable design, sustainable manufacturing, and polymer chemistry with project partners that represent the interests of all operators and stages within the FTG supply chain; from manufacturer through to retailer. Together, we will use a combined approach of novel smart technologies and quality assurance methods, in-depth understanding and modelling of consumer behaviour, and comprehensive supply chain value assessment to propose a novel future FTG Circular Product-Service System (CPSS).
Specifically, the project will: (i) develop and validate novel combinations of 'track and trace' smart sensors, tracking, end of life detection technologies, and robust quality control systems to support the design and development of new FTG CPSS concepts that could maximise the lifetime of plastic packaging, enhance resource management, and reduce premature waste disposal; (ii) define how 'value' is prioritised, moved, and maintained within existing FTG supply chains so to develop new tools and methods for determining the necessary supply-side value movements and flows within new FTG CPSS concepts; (iii) seek to understand current consumer behaviours with existing FTG packaging in order to propose new tools and methods that enable and evaluate meaningful behaviour change towards less resource intense and environmentally destructive demand-side action; (iv) take a structured co-design approach that partners academic research with industry experience to create, based on the findings above, and evaluate, through live proof-of-concept prototype trials, a novel FTG CPSS that will improve the environmental, societal, and economic impact of FTG packaging.
The project will be as far as possible 'open source' through academic publication, industry networking, and a vibrant digital social media presence to help foster the UK and international transition to CE, disseminating and translating project outputs to both academia and industry. Outputs will include: Track and trace, cleaning, and detection technology concepts with feasibility/stability studies and design implications; supply chain value indicators and datasets, resource and value flow models, and evaluation tools; consumer behaviour baseline dataset and modelling tools, with personas and scenarios of use; and a novel FTG CPSS concept with validated proof-of-concept packaging prototypes, and business/service modelling and blueprints. We will also produce a toolkit for policymakers which will synthesise the generated tools, methods, and case study examples to both underline and reinforce our impact and the national importance of our findings.
Publications
Bradley, C.G.
(2023)
Towards a shared design research agenda for reusable packaging systems
Larder R
(2022)
Enabling the Polymer Circular Economy: Innovations in Photoluminescent Labeling of Plastic Waste for Enhanced Sorting
in ACS Polymers Au
Nahar S
(2022)
Challenges Associated with Cleaning Plastic Food Packaging for Reuse
in Waste
Nahar, S.
(2022)
Optical Cleaning Assurance for Reusable PET (re-PET) Food Packaging
Wilson G
(2022)
Perpetual plastic for food to go: a design-led approach to polymer research
in Polymer International
Wilson, G.T.
(2023)
New Metaphors for Plastic Packaging
Title | Perpetual Plastic for Food to Go (PPFTG) project: A multidisciplinary collaboration approach |
Description | 'Perpetual Plastic for Food to Go (PPFTG) project: A multidisciplinary collaboration approach' poster presented at the Loughborough University Research Conference 2022, on 6th December 2022. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2023 |
URL | https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/poster/Perpetual_Plastic_for_Food_to_Go_PPFTG_project_A_mult... |
Description | All - SSPP Workshops |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | SSPP Enabling Research Workshop Series. This series of workshops brings together academics and industry experts from across all of the Enabling research in smart sustainable plastic packaging (SSPP) funded projects. The lead universities include: University of Strathclyde; The University of Manchester; Brunel University; University College London; Loughborough University; City, University of London; University of Sheffield; University of Lancaster; The University of Liverpool; and University of Cambridge. External speakers at the workshops have include OPRL, Berry Global, and SUEZ. This led to follow on discussions between the projects including two facilitated sessions by the research team on embedded fluorescent markers (tags) and alternative approaches to product labelling. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Being and Engineer |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Year 2 activity - discussing what is involved in being an engineer. Gave general description of duties/daily tasks as an academic and discussed material selection for different applications including solar panels, food packaging, cars, furniture, etc. Some guided activities for the pupils carried out. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | GTW - GRiPS 2021 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | PI was an invited speaker at GRIPS 2021: Global Research and Innovation in Plastics Sustainability. The session was on 'Reuse and Refill' and chaired by Sara Banning, Innovate UK. This led to several follow up conversations with national businesses. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://ppftg.wordpress.com/2021/03/17/the-ppftg-team-at-grips2021/ |
Description | GTW - GRiPS 2022 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | PI was an invited speaker at GRIPS 2022: Global Research and Innovation in Plastics Sustainability. The session was on 'Reuse: game Changer or Logistical Nightmare' and chaired by Sara Banning, Innovate UK. This led to several follow up conversations with national businesses. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | GTW - Many Happy Returns Presentation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Within the wider SSPP Enabling Research Group the research team (PI and CO-I) were invited to The Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures 'Many Happy Returns' Takeaway Meeting #2 on the 1st March 2021 to present our work and discuss reuse models for takeaway food. This led to follow on discussions and plans for a workshop. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | GTW - Material Research Exchange 2022 Conference (MRE 2022) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | A formal presentation as part of the funding body's 'mid-term review' process which led to discussions with other funded projects and industry. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | GTW - Net Zero Conference 2022 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | An invited presentation as a 'future research leader' in the Midlands. This has led to ongoing conversations with other academics in the Midlands area with a view to future collaboration and partnership. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://netzero2022.our.dmu.ac.uk/conference/ |
Description | Keynote talk ad Food Chemistry and Technology Conference, 2023: Assessing surface cleanliness: A pathway to sustainability |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Keynote presentation at international conference. no published proceedings. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | NC + GTW - Midlands Packaging Society 'Pack to the Future' Conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | An event facilitated by NC at Loughborough University, with an opportunity to present and discuss the PPFTG project with packaging industry representatives. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | NC - Midlands Packaging Society 'Pack to the Future' Conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | An event facilitated by NC at Loughborough University, with an opportunity to present and discuss the PPFTG project with packaging industry representatives. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | NC - The Grocer 2021 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | CO-I was an invited panellist at The Grocer Broadcast Conference 2021. This led to several follow up conversations with national businesses. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://ppftg.wordpress.com/2021/03/24/ppftg-at-the-grocer-broadcast-conference-2021/ |
Description | RT - BBC East Midlands Today |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Co-I had the opportunity to introduce the research project to hundreds of thousands of local residents in their interview with Navtej Johal on BBC East Midlands Today. This led to several follow up conversations with local businesses. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://ppftg.wordpress.com/2021/01/31/ppftg-on-bbc-east-midlands-today/ |
Description | RT - The Times |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Co-I a panel member of the Times Earth Events - Future of Food: 10 November 2021. In association with Santander, the Times held a short virtual event on the future of food which brought to life key areas covered in the Times Earth Supplement published on October 21. This led to several follow up conversations with national businesses. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | RT - The Times |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | An interview with Co-I by The Times. Article titled: 'How Eco is your lunch - the plastic packaging problem'. This led to several follow up conversations with national businesses. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/how-eco-is-your-lunch-the-plastic-packaging-problem-l80d6rvkc |