The world has changed markedly with respect to transparency and need to know in the last years, particularly in relation to Personal Care formulated goods. Market trends for; cruelty-free, biodegradable, natural, 'free-from', coupled with increased social media and online influencers, growth in independent cosmetic companies and the need for established formulators to protect their brand image has meant "what" a product is, what it contains, and where it came from is as important as "how does it work". This project will explore the feasibility of developing a digital supply chain platform that is accessible to all in the Personal Care supply chain which furnishes Brand Owners with the data they require to support consumer needs. The platform will be developed by a UK-based technology start-up working with to UK based manufacturing companies producing specialty ingredients for Personal Care sector.

The project will enable PET bottle manufacturing to be conducted in a more efficient and sustainable manner, with the use of a novel additive. To do this Croda, a multi-national, UK headquartered specialty ingredient supplier will partner with Queen's University Belfast, a leading academic institute in polymer orientation and stretch blow moulding for PET bottles and BOPET films. Croda and Queen's University Belfast and will develop a new additive which will act as a processing aid & slip agent for PET plastic packaging. With the use of this new additive, the bottle manufacturing process will produce fewer rejects (i.e. post-industrial waste), will be conducted at lower temperatures (i.e. energy savings) and will demonstrate reduced coefficient of friction (CoF) on the produced bottles, resulting in reduced downtime often caused by bottle stiction on the conveyor belt. The reduced CoF will also remove the need of externally applied lubricant sprays, which are potential contaminants, making the overall process safer too.