UK Research & Innovation’s Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging (SSPP) Challenge, delivered by Innovate UK, has revealed that its work has boosted UK plastics recycling infrastructure and enabled potential CO2e savings of more than 1.5 million tonnes between 2025 and 2030 as its funded projects come online and reach commercial scale operation.
The contribution of the £60 million Challenge to driving plastic packaging circularity and sustainability is detailed in a report launched at a showcase event in London this week celebrating its successful completion.
As the SSPP Challenge concludes, it has also revealed it has successfully:
- Leveraged committed co-investment so far of circa £274m for innovative packaging solutions
- Supported new domestic recycling infrastructure that has boosted UK-wide and regional growth and jobs
- Brought together nearly 400 organisations across academia, industry, and the third sector to develop innovative recycling technologies, reuse and refill systems, and more
Delivering the Keynote Address, Professor Margaret Bates, CEO of the recently launched UK packaging Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme administrator, PackUK, for Defra, said: “In line with the government’s commitment to work with industry to stimulate economic growth, SSPP has harnessed the willingness of retailers, brands and the plastic packaging supply chain to engage and invest in innovation that supports resource efficiency and clean growth. It has attracted £274 million of co-investment to date, delivered new infrastructure on the ground in the UK, and challenged the art of the possible and the investible.”
With a portfolio of over 80 funded projects, the aim of the £60 million SSPP Challenge has been to drive cleaner growth across the UK’s plastics, packaging and retail supply chains. With many highly collaborative projects in its portfolio, it has supported nearly 400 organisations across academia, industry, and the third sector to develop new recycling technologies, reuse and refill systems, and more.
With support from SSPP, Mura Technology has constructed a world-first facility that can recycle post-consumer plastic packaging, including ‘hard-to-recycle’ formats such as flexibles and multi-layered films, into circular hydrocarbons for use in the manufacturing of new plastic.
Dr Geoff Brighty, Head of Sustainability for Mura, says: “The SSPP funding has been a huge support. Not only has it enabled us to move forward rapidly with the construction of our plant, engineering procurement and project management, but it has also helped de-risk the project and attract other investors.
“More than that, it has brought about collaboration with new stakeholders, including the Warwick Manufacturing Group at the University of Warwick, whilst helping to raise awareness of our operation and this developing chemical processing sector to regulators. Strategically, that's been massive for us.”
Other projects supported by the challenge include:
- Planetixx:: AI-driven software platform to facilitate the identification and removal of marine plastic pollution
- Abel & Cole: Pioneering a refillable milk bottle
- The Refill Coalition and Reposit: Reusable packaging trials with Aldi, Ocado and M&S
- FlexCollect, the most extensive pilot for household collection and recycling of flexible plastic packaging ever undertaken in the UK.
The SSPP-funded projects and other industry stakeholders gathered in London this week (26/03/25) to celebrate the completion of the challenge and its impact, as well as to explore how it can continue to drive investment, innovation and collaboration in sustainable plastic packaging solutions.
“Now that the challenge has completed, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate the enormous success of the challenge and the projects we have funded,” said Dr Paul Davidson, Director of the Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Challenge. “There are still significant challenges ahead for the plastic packaging sector, but the progress that has been made through SSPP is a testament to the remarkable momentum behind plastic packaging innovation. The projects SSPP has supported are changing the plastic packaging landscape and making a real contribution to the UK’s clean growth agenda.”
The SSPP projects will continue to be supported through Innovate UK’s services and speaking at the event, Professor Sally Beken, Knowledge Transfer Manager – Polymers at Innovate UK Business Connect, said: “These innovators are already delivering transformative change across the sector and with continued support to access other investment and collaboration opportunities, they are sure to continue to shape the future of plastic waste reduction for years to come.”
Link to the SSPP Celebration Report
Further information on SSPP-funded projects: Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging 2025