Getting to GRIPS with plastic waste

Over 600 delegates attended the fourth annual Global Research and Innovation in Plastics Sustainability Conference (GRIPS 2024) on Thursday 19 September, held at the University of Sheffield, and online.

This year’s conference saw Innovate UK partner with the British Plastics Federation (BPF) to design the programme, with the event enabled through sponsorship by the Worshipful Company of Horners and Plastics Europe. This was funded by a generous donation from the family of the late David Williams, past President of the BPF and past Master of The Worshipful Company of Horners. He was described by BPF’s Philip Law as a stalwart and ‘father of industry’ and knew everyone in the world of plastics.

GRIPS is an annual coming together of people with expertise in plastics; innovators, researchers, businesses and policy makers with a shared mission to reduce single-use plastics and plastic waste, and to ensure that plastics don’t become fugitive in the environment. The conference featured presentations and panel discussions across three streams; sustainability, recycling and materials.

In the opening address, Prof. Sally Beken, Knowledge Transfer Manager at Innovate UK Business Connect and Founder of UK Circular Plastics Network said that GRIPS was a gathering with a shared purpose to “chart a sustainable future for plastics and to explore how our industries, governments, and societies can address the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead”.

“Plastics have undeniably shaped the modern world. From packaging which preserves our foods to medical supplies that save lives, plastics have been a cornerstone of innovation and convenience. But we know this story has another side. Our dependence on plastic, particularly single-use plastics, has contributed to some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time.”

Prof. Rachel Rothman, Co-Director of the University of Sheffield’s Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures, spoke about the waste hierarchy and the need to reduce, reuse and recycle plastic material and recover any value from it, before we consider the best method of disposal.

She highlighted one of the Grantham Centre’s research projects called ‘Many Happy Returns’. Funded by UKRI’s Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Challenge, delivered by Innovate UK, this multi-use packaging return scheme aims to help retailers and customers to rethink the packaging they use and incentivise reuse. Results have been positive, with 99% of packaging returned to the retailer, reducing the need for single-use packaging.

Delegates also heard from other speakers including Prof. Margaret Bates, Head of UK Packaging EPR Scheme Administrator from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, James Bull, Head of Packaging and Food Waste Strategies at Tesco and Liz Morrish, Workstream Consultant for CEFLEX.

Sophie Walker, CEO and co-founder at Dsposal spoke about data, or rather the lack of it. She said useful data, which could help inform sustainability strategies and drive circularity, is patchy at best, and largely unavailable at worst. She said having access to standardised, good quality data, would unlock opportunities and create a level playing field.

The complexity of the plastics challenge was a recurring theme during the day’s proceedings. Few can argue with the convenience and usefulness of plastic, but caution is needed when switching to other materials without understanding the implications or unintended consequences. Replacing plastics with alternatives is worse for greenhouse gas emissions in most cases (source: Environmental Science & Technology) with plastics producing lower GHG impact in 14 of the 16 non-plastic alternatives.

Tesco’s James Bull also emphasised that there is no one-size-fits-all in retail. Each of the thousands of products on the shelves needs a tailored approach. He said “we need the right packaging for each product, while still considering the needs of the customer”. He added that Tesco is looking at packaging across all their products – reducing and removing packaging where it is possible, and then reusing and recycling where it is not.

GRIPS also saw the launch of a new report “Sustainable Carbon Ambition for the UK Chemicals Industry”. Commissioned by Innovate UK with input from industry stakeholders, the report highlights the opportunity for the sector to diversify away from virgin fossil carbon and toward other sustainable feedstocks. It was launched at GRIPS by Dr Peter Clark, Head of Chemistry and Industrial Biotechnology at Innovate UK Business Connect, who said: “This report shines a light on the need for industry and government to collaborate on creating a resilient chemicals sector. A strong UK chemicals industry will be able to manufacture the sustainable ingredients that are in demand in downstream sectors, creating high value jobs and growing the economy.”

There was some great feedback from the delegates. Dr David Greenfield, co-founder of etsaW Ventures said: “GRIPS had a really engaging audience, hugely knowledgeable participants and presenters, and some really strategic thinking about the future of plastics.”

Sophia van Mourik, PhD Student at the University of Sheffield said: “Today has been fascinating and a real eye opener. For me as an academic, having that industry influence with people asking me about my work has been really valuable, and I’ve made loads of connections. It’s been a good day overall.”

Poster winners

Winner of our poster competition: Jerome Anokwu, University of Salford

Research Quality Award: Sophia van Mourik, University of Sheffield

Impact Award: Erica Barnes, University of Bristol

Horners Awards

Winner of the Horners Award for Plastics Innovation and Design 2024: Next-Generation Additive Manufactured Police Body Armour by Loughborough University

Winner of the Bottlemakers Award 2024: Blowmoulded Brass Instrument Mutes by Hawkins Mutes

David Williams Award 2024: SafiCase by Isabel Payne, Glasgow School of Art

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