Fighting for Sustainable Solutions to the Plastic Crisis has never been easy, but now academics and industrialists can join forces for a bite of a £1 million fund, backed by the UK Government.
Back in 2018 the UK government pledged to fund £60 million to tackle waste plastic and as of January 2020 they’ve made £1 million of funding available to companies willing to engage with projects aimed at producing smart and sustainable solutions to the plastics crisis. This is only the first step towards the £60 million being allocated by the Government, but the project's total success will lie in the additional £149 million being matched by industry.
According to the Smart and Sustainable Plastic Packaging Programme (SSPP) the aim of the total project will be to provide innovative, smart and sustainable plastic packaging for consumer products, thus reducing plastic waste entering the environment, while delivering growth of greener solutions across the supply chain. In addition to this the government funding aims to coordinate and lead businesses into sustainable designs, production, supply and recovery / recycling of plastic packaging across the whole value chain.
So, if you are a business or academic that has an idea that you think could benefit the packaging industry, in particular plastic packaging, this next section might be of interest to you. Any projects can be funded under various parts of the scheme, for example: delivery of new recyclable materials, functionality of consumer friendly packaging, sustainability or new / improved recycling technology.
Application deadlines for this are 1 April 2020, but there are some things that you should know about the project first:
- The funding is only open to early stage projects that wish to make the plastic packaging supply chain more circular.
- Proposals must contribute to the UK Plastics Pact.
- Projects must improve on current plastic packaging, but still remain practical and offer realistic market solutions.
- Only projects estimated to cost between £30,000 and £100,000 will be considered.
- The funding is to be delivered by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) via the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
You must submit a detailed summary on how your project would fulfil the aims of the SSPP challenge with particular emphasis on how your project idea adopts a lifecycle approach to plastic packaging. Successful projects will be rewarded a share of the £1 million.
Details on how to apply for the ISCF Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging: feasibility studies and industrial research can be found here, but should you need any additional support, remember that at allpack® we offer a free no-obligation consultation that could set your project on the path to success.
Source: ‘Smart and sustainable packaging’ fund opens:13 January 2020: Joshua Doherty