Government funding worth £1 million has today (13 January) been opened for applications from “early-stage projects in smart and sustainable plastic packaging”.
The funding forms part of the Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Programme (SSPP), a £60 million fund the government announced in 2018 to tackle plastic waste (see letsrecycle.com story).
The fund is being delivered by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
The funding forms part of the Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Programme (SSPP)
This morning, £1 million of this was opened for “smart and sustainable plastic packaging”, with applicants able to apply untul 1 April 2020.
Proposals which will be considered for the funding include those which “help make the plastics packaging supply chain more circular”, contribute to the UK Plastics Pact, and “improve on current state-of-the-art plastic packaging, while still demonstrating practical and close-to-market solutions”.
The projects ‘total eligible costs’ must also be between £30,000 and £100,000 in order to be considered.
The projects can be related to materials, design, technology or process, or business model or behaviour change.
Packaging
According to the SSPP website, the £60 million of government funding for the programme is “expected to be matched by funding of up to £149 million from industry”.
The funding was first announced in the Bioeconomy Strategy: 2018 to 2030
The programme will look to “establish the UK as a leading innovator in smart and sustainable plastic packaging for consumer products, delivering cleaner growth across the supply chain, with a dramatic reduction in plastic waste entering the environment by 2025”.
The challenge will also aim to “deliver strategic leadership and a co-ordinated programme of research and innovation for the design, production, supply, recovery and recycling of plastic packaging across the entire value chain.”
Projects which can be funded under various parts of the scheme include those delivering new, recyclable materials; designs for consumer-friendly packaging, with improved functionality and sustainability and new/improved recycling technologies.
The registration documents can be found here.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Plastic
