The world’s most innovative project in global plastics sustainability has been decided by panel and delegate vote at the Global Research & Innovation in Plastics Sustainability conference (GRIPS).
Greyparrot’s AI system can detect waste composition at scale to identify plastics and divert them from landfill and incineration. It has been crowned Most Innovative at GRIPS 2022 – the world-leading plastics sustainability event, organised by Innovate UK KTN and hosted by the UK Circular Plastics Network.
Mikela Druckman, CEO and Co-founder of Greyparrot, says, “We are delighted that Greyparrot has been voted GRIPS Most Innovative by our peers at the Global Research & Innovation in Plastics Sustainability Conference. This validates the urgent need to increase automation and digitisation in the waste and resources sector which is heavily relying on manual processes.
“Greyparrot’s AI waste recognition system automates waste composition analysis to monitor, audit and sort waste at scale. The system can increase the efficiency of waste sorting and recovery, thereby diverting plastics and other valuable materials from landfill and incineration. We believe that consistent data and insights on waste flows will be critical to achieve the ambitious UK recycling targets in coming years and to implement upcoming policies such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).”
GRIPS Most Innovative, which is new to the show this year, sought to find the best idea, innovation, and/or technical advancement in plastics sustainability. Innovate UK KTN received twenty excellent entries from the likes of Big ATOM, who have innovated an approach to recycling tyre plastic through pyrolysis, and the BOTTLE Consortium whose OxFun innovation allows them to overcome the chemical diversity of mixed plastic waste to make recycling easier.
The finalists, decided by a panel of the UK’s premier polymer scientists, included Pinweld’s linear welding technology for thermoplastics, MagID, a magnetic barcoding innovation for marking plastics from MagVision, and ReZorce Circular Packaging, a 100% recyclable mono-material barrier packaging range from Zotefoams, with Greyparrot winning through delegate vote at the show.
Keven Chappell, technical director of Pinweld, says, “The team at Pinweld are extremely proud to have been selected as finalists in the GRIPS Most Innovative ‘22. To be selected from the incredible range and quality of the projects showcased is just phenomenal for us.
“However, we feel that the success of our project will be shared by the other teams working on fascinating projects reclaiming valuable plastics. We hope to be the catalyst that supports designers in using the material in new and innovative ways. Helping to create demand for this commodity by creating manufacturing opportunities to drive up reclaimed resin value and support circularity.”
Dr Nathalie Muller, Head of Innovation at MagVision, says, “I’m absolutely delighted that MagVision, a new start up, made the shortlist out of so many strong innovations in the sustainable plastics arena at GRIPS 2022. For us, measurement is key to making a dent in the amount of plastic waste. Our patented technology, MagID, uses unique covert barcodes to uniquely mark packaging items. It also includes a platform to analyse the data along the products’ life journey. MagID is an environmentally friendly technology, with a low carbon footprint at production and very low impact at end-of-life.
“We’ve had a huge amount of interest in using MagID and our software platform for reuse and refill applications as it offers a low-cost entry point. You need to be able to measure to know that you’re making an impact and MagVision makes it easy for companies who are starting their journey.”
Neil Court-Johnston, Vice President of Strategy at Zotefoams says, “we’re delighted that ReZorce Circular Packaging was recognised at GRIPS Most Innovative, being shortlisted by the judges before coming in second place after a live vote.
“At Zotefoams, our mission is to produce optimal material solutions for the benefit of society. ReZorce is a fully recyclable mono-material barrier packaging range and the first viable alternative to current composite barrier packaging. Based on proprietary microcellular foaming technology, ReZorce sandwiches foamed layers with solid ones to optimise barrier performance and produce the same performance in folding as paper. As well as being 100% recyclable via post-consumer household collection, it incorporates up to 70% recycled material and has the potential to close the loop on carton circularity. We’re looking forward to customer trials within the next few months and hope to share the exciting results soon.”
GRIPS Most Innovative panellist, Dr Sally Beken, Founder of the UK Circular Plastics Network and Knowledge Transfer manager at Innovate UK KTN, says, “We saw some incredible sustainability innovations all along the lifecycle of plastics at GRIPS Most Innovative. It was a hard task for the panel to select finalists because every single project was truly impressive, impactful and creative. We want to thank our 50 exhibitors and the 80 expert speakers that took part in the show.”
Attendees of GRIPS 2022 can access all the recordings from the event, including the announcement of the GRIPS Most Innovative Winner, by visiting the Hub here. If you were unable to join GRIPS 2022, you’ll be able to view all recordings from the event via the UK Circular Plastics Network and Innovate UK KTN websites in the coming weeks.
You can continue to get involved in the conversation on Twitter using #GRIPS2022 and following @UKCPNetwork & @KTN_Materials – remember to become a member of the UK Circular Plastics Network to receive news of our upcoming events.
To find out more about GRIPS, the work of the UK Circular Plastics Network, or media opportunities via our website, please get in touch with UKCPN Programme Lead, Sally Beken.
Tags Greyparrot GRIPS plastic waste waste management
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