
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will invest up to £16 million from the Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Programme to support projects that demonstrate innovation at a commercial scale. The aim of this competition is to address widely known problems in relation to plastic packaging for consumer products. Your proposal must include significant industry investment. This is stage 1 of a 2-stage competition. The stages are:
- Expression of interest (this stage): evaluated by the SSPP team and independent assessment by Innovate UK. There is no funding in this stage.
- Full stage application. This will be by invitation only to applicants who are successful in the EoI stage through the Innovation Funding Service and will include independent assessment by Innovate UK, with an independent Environmental Impact Assessment and, if relevant, an Engineering Assessment.
Innovate UK expects to invest in up to 3 practical demonstrators at the full stage competition. Your project must demonstrate an idea at commercial scale which:
- improves the sustainability of the plastic packaging supply chain
- helps deliver the targets of the UK Plastics Pact
- utilises innovation in design, technology, processes, business models, supply chains or data for plastic packaging
- embeds a whole-systems approach to plastic packaging sustainability, considering environmental, economic, and social factors