Two projects funded by UKRI’s Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Challenge have won major global awards, recognising their contribution to creating a circular economy for plastic packaging and reducing plastic waste and pollution.

Notpla Ltd, the London-based start-up that is creating alternatives to plastic packaging using seaweed, has won the Earthshot Prize to Build A Waste-Free World. The grant from SSPP is funding the development of a seaweed-derived coating for paper and card food packaging as an alternative to the plastic laminates that are widely used at present. Find out more about this exciting innovation in the SSPP case study showcase here.

Also on the winning podium recently was the Nextek Ltd-led COtooCLEAN project to deliver circularity for food-grade plastic films, which won the Alliance Prize for Circular Solutions for Flexibles. The project is assessing the commercial viability of a disruptive waterless cleaning process, based on low-pressure super-critical CO₂, to produce food-grade recyclate from post-consumer polyolefin film waste. Supported by a number of commercial and academic partners, the approach has the potential to significantly enhance high quality film recycling by developing an effective decontamination process with a lower environmental impact.

“We are delighted that Notpla and Nextek have won these prestigious awards. The work of these and the many other SSPP-funded projects are helping to establish the UK as a leading innovator in smart and sustainable plastic packaging,” says SSPP Challenge Director Paul Davidson.