European Companies Search Engine
UK funding (£689,924): Peptide Raw Materials for High Performance and Biodegradable Personal Care Products Ukri1 Sept 2023 UK Research and Innovation, United Kingdom
Overview
Text
Peptide Raw Materials for High Performance and Biodegradable Personal Care Products
| Abstract | Of the many environmental challenges we face in the UK, water pollution has been at the forefront in recent times. The DEFRA outcome delivery plan for 2021/22 lists the improvement of the environment through cleaner air and water, minimised waste, and thriving plants and terrestrial and marine wildlife first in its priority outcomes. Part of the solution will be to develop a 'circular bioeconomy' in which our dependence on fossil fuels for environmental growth is removed, and resources are extracted and recovered from waste products and used as ingredients in new products or as a source of energy. However, personal care products like make-up and shampoo will inevitably introduce a break in this circular economy as they end up in landfill or wastewater at the end of their use. In addition to there being no way of recovering and re-using their chemical ingredients, many of these products contain chemicals that are non-biodegradable and persist in the environment. European regulations prevent the use of certain toxic chemicals in personal care products, due to their impact on the environment from contaminated wastewater. But there are many ingredients for which the effect is unknown or not studied, resulting in a lack of technical innovations that address this challenge. Cosmetics have been used in human societies for over 7000 years and they continue to provide many people with a much-needed opportunity for self-care. Unfortunately, many of the chemicals in cosmetics cannot simply be removed as they give performance properties like ease of application or comfort to wear which are important to users. Consumers are then faced with a difficult choice between environmentally friendly products with poor performance or high-performance products with unknown environmental impact. Our innovative solution is to replace non-biodegradable chemical ingredients with biodegradable alternatives like peptides. We have developed novel, proprietary peptides that perform better than industrial chemical standards, providing the user with the optimal balance of ease of application, long wear time and comfort without compromising sustainability. Peptides can be challenging to produce, but we have developed methods that allow for bioproduction by fermentation and efficient isolation of the product in a pure form. We now need funding to scale our processes to make enough peptide for a launch product with a commercial partner. This will not only demonstrate the potential for replacing environmentally persistent chemicals with biodegradable alternatives, but hopefully encourage greater innovation in this sector. |
| Category | Collaborative R&D |
| Reference | 10077543 |
| Status | Closed |
| Funded period start | 01/09/2023 |
| Funded period end | 30/06/2025 |
| Funded value | £689,924.00 |
| Source | https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=10077543 |
Participating Organisations
| ZENTRAXA LIMITED |
£283,719.00 |
| CENTRE FOR PROCESS INNOVATION LIMITED |
£406,205.00 |
The filing refers to a past date, and does not necessarily reflect the current state. The current state is available on the following page: Zentraxa Ltd., Bristol.
The visualizations for "Zentraxa Ltd. - UK funding (£689,924): Peptide Raw Materials for High Performance and Biodegradable Personal Care Products"
are provided by
North Data
and may be reused under the terms of the
Creative Commons CC-BY license.
