Designing ways to reduce plastic waste: apply for funding

Businesses can apply for a share of £800,000 to look at innovative designs for products, services or business models that make plastic use more sustainable.

The world produces around 350 million tonnes of plastic every year. Europe recycles about 40% of its plastic waste. Some of the rest goes to landfill or for incineration and some still leaks out into the environment.

Better design of products, processes and services is one way of reducing the environmental impact of plastics. However, the design must be one that consumers and users will want to adopt and it needs to fit with the way they behave.

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, has up to £800,000 from the Plastics Research and Innovation Fund, to invest in business projects that seek to better understand the behaviour of customers and users and use that understanding to create innovative design concepts.

Find out more about the Plastics Research and Innovation Fund.