Unilever and Bright Green Plastics call on UK universities for advanced PCR personal care packaging
16 Dec 2020 --- UK-based Bright Green Plastics is teaming up with leading British universities and Unilever to advance the use of post-consumer recycled (PCR) resin technology. The £965,000 (US$1.3 million) project seeks to make plastic packaging for personal care products more environmentally sustainable.
The move is led by the University of Liverpool, with additional support from the University of Manchester.
“Our business is committed to improving the uptake of recycled plastics by striving for excellence throughout our whole recycling process from sourcing of the waste plastics, sorting and segregation through to formulation and compounding,” says Bright Green Plastics’ head of technical and quality, Sam Hill.
Finding PCR’s route to market
As part of the project, Unilever and Bright Green Plastics will ensure the research is guided by industrial needs and the findings have a direct route to market.
Bright Green Plastics is partnering with Unilever, University of Liverpool and University of Manchester to advance PCR resin technology.
The goal is to provide the necessary technological advancements to propel the use of PCR resin, which can be made by recycling High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), one of the most common plastics used in packaging.
The new technologies will allow PCR to be more widely adopted in the manufacture of plastic products, reducing the amount of unrecycled plastic entering the market, as opposed to virgin plastic.
The increased use of PCR will drive a circular economy approach and lower greenhouse gases, the companies support.
Based on data science
The project will use data science and detailed materials analysis of the plastics to understand how HDPE changes during the mechanical recycling process to create PCR. Furthermore, it will investigate how this disruption within PCR supply and demand will impact the supply chain.
“We know that by developing a deeper understanding of our raw materials we will be able to serve new customers, producing grades of higher quality than before, thus opening new markets,” Hill says.
“We believe that interdisciplinary cooperative teams are key to improving the quality of PCR resins as this goal is heavily reliant on the participation of the whole value chain.”
The £965,000 (US$1.3 million) project seeks to make personal care plastic packaging more eco-friendly.Steve Spencer, managing director at Bright Green Plastics, notes by pooling collective resources and combining commercial and academic knowledge, this project has the potential to change the face of the global packaging industry.
“It may tip the balance of power from virgin to recycled plastics. It’s an exciting time, and we’re proud to play our role in this game-changing project.”
Unilever ups sustainability game
Unilever is poised to expand its eco-friendly practices. This past September the company revealed plans to transfer 100 percent of the carbon derived from fossil fuels in its cleaning and laundry product formulations to renewable or recycled carbon.
Moreover, Unilever has set aside €1 billion (US$1.2 billion) to finance biotechnology research, low carbon chemistry, as well as CO2 and waste utilization.
The company also launched its largest ever supermarket refill trial in Europe. Beginning in a single Asda supermarket in the UK, customers are encouraged to refill packaging for seven leading Unilever products.
In addition, Unilever developed tubs and lids made from recycled polypropylene (r-PP) for its Knorr brand bouillon powder in partnership with Greiner Packaging and SABIC.
In similar moves, the company’s Persil brand re-launched its liquid detergent packaging in a fully recyclable bottle made from 50 percent PCR plastic.
Edited by Kristiana Lalou
