WRAP awards £1.2 million funding to global waste innovators

WRAP’s first international grants competition – The International Circular Plastics Flagship Competition – has awarded funding of £1.2 million to six UK based innovators across India, Chile, South Africa, and Kenya.

The competition, developed and delivered in partnership with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), has been described by the charity as a fund ‘to drive forward international innovation in key regions in the world’.

Hopeful applicants were required to demonstrate solutions to specific challenges identified by each national Plastic Pact, such as films and flexible packaging, reusable packaging, new business models, and end market developments.

WRAP and UKRI’s partnership will fund technologies to UK based innovators with in-country partners. By addressing the global issues together, WRAP says, the partnerships could help drive a reduced level of plastic pollution in Asia, Africa and Latin America

For instance, in South Africa, WasteAid UK will undertake a ‘feasibility study’ and pilot project in Mpumalanga, demonstrating an ‘inclusive approach to closing the loop on plastic packaging by supporting local waste pickers to increase local collection’.

Through employing behaviour change interventions, an increase in waste pickers' access to recyclables may also be achievable in Mpumalanga – improving local processing capacity and developing local and regional end markets for recycled plastic.

In Chile, sustainable packaging company Notpla Limited will develop and expand its seaweed-based heat sealable film – an alternative to flexible plastic films. Notpla says its film is natural and often edible. The film is also compostable and biodegradable on land and sea ‘without human intervention’, and can be formed into single-use sachets. This project's particular focus will be on single-use sachets for condiments.

TrueCircle Technologies, a service providing AI technology to the recycling industry, plans to ‘bring formal integration, market and pricing transparency, and fair-trade practices to the Kenyan waste sector’. It aims to do so using AI waste identification and composition analysis.

Interface Polymers Limited is one of three projects tackling plastics in India, using a recycling additive technology that enables multilayer films and mixed plastic streams to be effectively recycled into new products. Multilayer film that currently goes to landfill will be collected, mixed with the additive and demonstrated in high performance film applications.

A second project by ReVentas will investigate the coupling of its technology with an existing Indian milk pouch collection. It could see the material being decontaminated to a suitable level, so it can be recycled and used in new packaging applications.

The third project in India, with LESS& Ltd, will explore reusable alternatives to sachets. The company also says it will examine the feasibility of a refill/reuse concept.

The six projects will contribute to the transformation of the plastics system, WRAP says, by stopping waste, addressing harmful emissions from new plastic production, and ensuring that plastic is kept in the economy and out of the natural environment.

WRAP’s news follows Earth Overshoot Day, a global event highlighting the state of global resource depletion. In light of this, WRAP states that it aims to offer practical solutions to help ‘reduce the environmental footprint made by our use of plastics’.

Dr Richard Swannell, International Director, WRAP, said: “Plastic pollution affects every country on Earth, blighting the lives of many of the poorest people.

“Working with UKRI and in-country partners, and through six innovative UK-based companies, we are funding projects that will focus directly on issues that affect India, Chile, South Africa and Kenya.

“These projects will address problems head on, and drive action towards delivering the challenging plastic targets of each country’s Plastics Pacts. 

“We hope intervention on this scale will help bring a more circular economy model of plastic use to each nation, create income opportunities and help improve sustainability in the long-term.”

Paul Davidson, Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Challenge Director, UKRI, added: “Plastic pollution is a global issue, and UKRI is proud to be partnering with WRAP on The International Circular Plastic Flagship Competition to help deliver game-changing funding in selected countries around the world.

“Not only will this drive innovation, but it will also help address the specific challenges outlined in each country’s Plastics Pact. I look forward to seeing the collaboration and progression in sustainability.