Industry has committed up to £149m – jointly with £60m from government – to help fight the global battle against single use plastics through the Industrial Strategy’s ‘Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging’ (SSPC) challenge.
Funding could be used to find ways to cut waste in the supply-chain and create new sustainable recyclable materials. This could include using plants instead of oils to make plastics, which will help reduce their carbon impact.
Around 80 million tonnes of plastic packaging is produced annually and if left unchecked, this is expected to triple by 2050. After a short first-use cycle, 95% of plastic packaging is lost to the economy.