Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging

UK Research & Innovation’s Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging (SSPP) Challenge, delivered by Innovate UK with the involvement of the Natural Environment Research Council, was established to support bold, ambitious innovation to deliver a step change in the UK’s ability to reduce, reuse and recycle plastic packaging waste.

SSPP’s aim was to drive a step change in our relationship with plastic packaging, eliminating plastic waste and supporting clean growth and industrial decarbonisation across the UK’s plastics, packaging and retail supply chains in line with the UK’s commitment to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

To achieve this, the Challenge funded both business-led and academic-led research and innovation to tackle the technical, commercial and behavioural challenges associated with plastic packaging waste to:

• deliver a reduction in unnecessary and single-use plastic packaging
• increase the viability and uptake of reuse and refill systems
• support new and improved recycling technologies and systems

The £60 million funding has to date leveraged in excess of £274 million in co-investment, demonstrating the significant level of supply chain engagement and support. The 80+ projects funded will deliver an estimated CO₂e saving of over 1.5 million tonnes between 2025 and 2030 and include a number of world-first innovations that significantly increase the UK’s high quality recycling capacity for difficult-to-recycle packaging formats. The Challenge has also prioritised the facilitation of industry collaboration and knowledge sharing to support the success, commercialisation, and adoption of the innovations it has funded.

The Challenge marked its completion at the end of March 2025 at an event at the Royal Society. The event provided the launchpad for its celebration report, which showcases the impact of the broad portfolio of SSPP projects that are delivering reductions in single-use plastic packaging, scaling up reuse and refill, increasing recycling, and reducing plastic pollution.

Read the SSPP Challenge Celebration report, or learn more about the SSPP projects.

UKCPN is the lead collaboration building partner for the SSPP Challenge.