Developing plant-based and biodegradable thermoplastic pellets to replace plastic

开发基于植物和可生物降解的热塑性颗粒来替代塑料

• 批准号: 10031646
• 金额: $ 44.49万
• 依托单位: XAMPLA LTD
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Collaborative R&D
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=10031646
• 关键词: Developing; plant; based; biodegradable; thermoplastic

Plastic pellets (“nurdles”) are the pre-production building blocks for nearly all plastic products. However, with a diameter of less than 5 mm, these tiny and lightweight particles (classed as primary microplastics) are lost at every point in the plastics supply chain (during production, transport, and manufacturing), reaching the environment even before being used to make anything useful.In the UK, it is estimated that up to 53 billion plastic pellets (weighing 1,054 tonnes) reach the oceans each year (Cole and Sherrington, 2016), while across Europe up to 78,000 tonnes/year (3.9 trillion) enter the oceans (Hann et al., 2018), and globally nearly 230,000 tonnes/year of pellets (11.5 trillion) reach the oceans (Sherrington, 2016). Pellet release contributes to both the plastics and climate crises. The production of 230,000 tonnes/year of pellets lost in the oceans consumes over 280,000 tonnes/year of non-renewable crude oil (Khoo and Tan, 2010) and is responsible for releasing approximately 690,000 tonnes/year of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (Harding et al., 2007). In the oceans, plastic pellets persist and bioaccumulate, acting as “toxic sponges” and transport vectors for chemicals (Mato et al., 2001) and harmful bacteria (Rodrigues et al., 2019), entering the food chain and ultimately reaching humans (Danopoulos et al., 2022). Globally, millions of tonnes of plastic pellets are processed each year into single-use flexible plastic packaging film. This film delivers performance in use, but has poor end-of-life characteristics. Film is challenging to collect, sort, and recycle and is typically sent to landfill, or for incineration, often reaching the environment. Once in the environment, film is non-biodegradable and releases persistent microplastics. With global plastics production reaching 368 million tonnes in 2019 (European Bioplastics, 2020) and predicted to increase by a further 32% between 2020 and 2030 (Statista, 2020), there is an urgent need to develop bio-based and biodegradable alternatives, especially for single-use flexible packaging film that has limited end-of-life options. The development of a drop-in solution for plastics manufacturers (“converters”) is critical to adoption at scale. Inspired by nature, Xampla has developed a next-generation bio-based and biodegradable material produced from plant proteins. With Innovate UK support, we will develop plant-based and biodegradable thermoplastic film as a drop-in replacement for plastic films manufactured from thermoplastic pellets. The project outputs will support the UK's ambition to become a world leader in sustainable packaging, addressing global plastics and climate crises.

塑料颗粒（“ Nurdles”）是几乎所有塑料产品的预生产构件。然而，这些直径少于5毫米，这些微小且轻巧的颗粒（被归类为原发性微塑料）在塑料供应链（在生产，运输和制造过程中）的每个点都丢失，甚至在英国使用任何有用的东西之前就可以到达环境。 2016年），虽然欧洲多达78,000吨/年（3.9万亿吨）进入海洋（Hann等，2018），在全球范围内近230,000吨弹丸（11.5万亿）到达海洋（Sherrington，2016年）。颗粒释放既导致塑料和气候危机。在海洋中损失的230,000吨颗粒的产量消耗了超过280,000吨/年的不可再生原油（Khoo and Tan，2010年），并负责释放约690,000吨/年的二氧化碳等效排放量（Harding等，2007年）。在海洋中，塑料颗粒持续存在和生物蓄积，充当“有毒海绵”和化学物质的运输载体（Mato等，2001）和有害细菌（Rodrigues等，2019），进入食物链并最终进入人类（Danopoulos等人，20222年）。在全球范围内，每年将数百万吨的塑料颗粒加工成一次性柔性塑料包装膜。这部电影提供了使用的性能，但具有较差的寿命特征。薄膜的收集，分类和回收挑战，通常被送往垃圾填埋场，或用于感染，经常到达环境。一旦进入环境，膜就不可生物降解并释放持续的微塑料。随着2019年全球塑料的产量达到3.68亿吨（欧洲生物塑料，2020年），预计在2020年至2030年之间将增加32％（Statista，2020），迫切需要开发基于生物的和可生物降解的替代品，尤其是对于拥有有限生活最终选择的单一使用柔性包装膜。开发用于塑料制造商（“转换器”）的倒入解决方案对于大规模采用至关重要。受自然的启发，Xampla开发了一种由植物蛋白产生的下一代生物和可生物降解材料。通过Innovate UK的支持，我们将开发基于植物的和可生物降解的热塑性膜，以替换由热塑性颗粒制造的塑料膜。该项目的产出将支持英国成为可持续包装领域的世界领导者的雄心，解决全球塑料和攀登危机。