Funding Approved for Bio-polymer Project

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The centre for SMART has been awarded funding to consider the life-cycle implications of Renewable Polymer Materials (RPM) within commercial packaging applications.

Plastics are made from the rapidly diminishing fossil fuel oil resource and it is estimated that about 7% of the world’s annual output of oil is consumed in plastic production. When compared to the original manufacturing process, processing of recycled plastics reduces energy consumption by two thirds. Furthermore, recycled plastics use produces only a third of the sulphur dioxide and half of the nitrous oxide.

Producers of packaging products will continue to face legislative pressure to improve the sustainability of their practices. The research will provide such businesses with the opportunity to effect a progressive change away from non-renewable resources to renewable resources with concomitant advantages for the environment through lower carbon and ecological footprints. Presently these biopolymers are primarily restricted to the building and automotive sectors, yet it is envisaged that these will become mainstream plastics in subsequent years, and effective environmental friendly end-of-life processing strategies will be vitally importance for their wider market acceptance.

The research will entail a quantitative life-cycle assessment of current polymer processing and consider the focus on the end-life implications of RPM materials and the knock on effect on Design for the Environment (DfE) principles. Challenging the current understanding of end-of-life bio-polymers processing to consider the environmental implications of adopting recycling strategies as opposed to biosphere degradation is highlighted as the novel and innovative aspect of this research, which could potential shape the strategic global development of the bio-polymers sector.

The project will be undertaken in collaboration with the SIMTech (The Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology) and Pira International, and will be funded as part of the Innovative Manufacturing and Construction Research Centre (IMCRC) at Loughborough.

For further information contact: S.Rahimifard@lboro.ac.uk

Posted: 29/07/2008