SECOS Group has been successful in a joint industry-university bid to secure $40m in funds over a ten year period, from the Federal Government to establish the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) aimed at Solving Plastic Waste.
SECOS Group is the parent company of Australia’s leading compostable packaging brand, MyEcoBagTM.
The total resources available to the Solving Plastic Waste CRC is $140.6 million, including the CRC Program grant and contributions from partners such as SECOS.
The unprecedented CRC will bring together leaders from international food brands, relevant peak bodies, international and national NGOs, Australian councils, environmental regulators (ie EPA) and others, with a target to develop new technologies that will reduce Australia’s plastic waste by nearly 20 per cent over the project’s ten-year duration.
SECOS chief executive officer and director, Richard Tegoni said, “We are very proud to be part of the distinguished team that was successful in its bid to receive this government funding under the Cooperative Research Australia’s program to establish the Solving Plastic Waste CRC. The SECOS R&D team will have the opportunity to work alongside experts within Australia’s best universities and industry stakeholders.”
From this project, SECOS aims to disrupt the status quo and drive down plastic waste by turbocharging and fast-tracking its research and development (R&D) investment, with every $1 spent by SECOS now able to yield approximately $3 to $4 in actual R&D investment.
“There are two other drivers for the change in our thinking required around plastic waste. One being that microplastics are creating more concern in terms of the impact that plastic has on the environment and wildlife,” said Tegoni.
“The second is the prevalence of plastic chemicals; the UN has identified over 3,000 plastic chemicals used in plastic production which have one or more hazardous properties of concern.”
SECOS will focus on two key components;
Program One: Materials and Design – to reduce products’ environmental impact, which focuses on new materials to substitute conventional plastic
Program Three: Implementing a circular economy for plastics in Australia. Here, SECOS will focus more on education and life cycle analysis to support behavioural change around plastic use and therefore waste.
Another Solving Plastic Waste project in the pipeline is the R&D aimed at driving compostable food packaging formulation that requires adequate barrier properties to maintain the integrity of the food but at the same time, breakdown once the ‘Best Before Date’ is exceeded.
The CRC will also assist in solving Australia’s plastic waste problem by enhancing end-user driven collaboration which addresses the current challenges across the entire plastics value chain.