Process and product optimisation through to scale-up and customer validation of a novel bio-based and compostable polymer(BioPolySummit)

An estimated 9.2 billion tonnes of plastic waste have been generated globally since the 1950s (Statista, 2022) of which over 50% remains in landfill or loose in the environment. Global greenhouse gas emissions from the production, recycling, and disposal of plastics are more than double that of air travel (Nature Climate Change,2019).

In line with current demand, fossil-based plastics are produced at a rate of ~400mtpa. While useful and ubiquitous, they have been developed focusing on function rather than end-of-life performance and their environmental impact.

Recycling alone is not the complete answer to the "plastics problem". This includes cost, food contamination, polymer degradation, and environmental leakage to soils and oceans. Bio-based and biodegradable plastics are an important part of the solution providing low-carbon routes to such materials and biodegradation in appropriate environments.

This collaborative project between Biome Technologies plc, and the Centre for Process Innovation(CPI) will complete the development of the manufacturing process and product optimisation of one of Biome's new class of bio-based and biodegradable polymers that has been the subject of 7-years of R&D and is now approaching commercialisation.

The project's outcome will facilitate the commercial deployment of a new sustainable and biodegradable material, reducing landfill and the environmental burden of non-biodegradable plastics in composts and soils whilst increasing productivity and growth for the wider UK (bio)economy.