The University of Manchester’s Henry Royce Institute has announced a new programme of support to help Greater Manchester SMEs find innovative solutions to sustainable plastics.
The £10 million Sustainable Materials Innovation Hub (SMIH) will offer SMEs material science expertise and business intelligence to help understand where they can make efficiencies and realise opportunities in sustainable plastics.
Three interlinking laboratories will be equipped with the capability to facilitate innovation in new sustainable plastic polymers, improved methods of recycling and validation of new sustainable materials that appear on the market.
‘Pioneer truly sustainable decisions’
“The SMIH provides a platform to work with SMEs across Greater Manchester to help them adopt the right sustainable plastic innovation for the right reasons,” explained Michael Shaver, professor of polymer science at the University of Manchester and lead for sustainable materials at the Henry Royce Institute.
“We will pioneer solutions that fit with our current and emerging waste management practices and help companies make decisions that are truly sustainable rather than just band-aid interventions.”
‘Wonderful news’ for SMEs
The hub will support SMEs across Greater Manchester like Low Carbon Network member Dsposal. COO and co-founder of Dsposal, Sophie Walker, said: “This is wonderful news for Greater Manchester’s SMEs working on improving the sustainability of the plastics value-chains. The SMIH’s interdisciplinary approach focusing both on polymer innovation and behaviour change is welcomed by Dsposal who are on a mission to make it easy for everyone to do the right thing with their waste.”
The hub’s construction at the Henry Royce Institute’s main building on Manchester’s Oxford Road will be completed by Spring 2021.
Image credit: University of Manchester
