Packaging manufacturer Aquapak Polymers has announced the set-up of a new Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Heriot Watt University to explore the impact of plastics on the marine environment.
KTPs are part government-funded lasting between one and three years and help to drive innovation in the UK while providing businesses with the knowledge they need to adapt to an ever-changing market.
Aquapak applied for the KTP earlier this year and the partnership was formally granted last month. Work is underway to recruit an Associate to strategically head up the two-year project who is expected to be a recent graduate with a degree in the appropriate discipline.
Commenting on his company’s KTP with Heriot Watt, Dr John Williams, Technical and Business Development Director at Aquapak, said: “This partnership will bring some ground-breaking solutions to the world’s plastic crisis, during a critical time when there is so much emphasis on this global issue. The issue of single use plastics has highlighted a great number of environmental problems, and we have found that there is a lack of independent data in this area, particularly in marine ecosystems.”
Professor Theodore Henry PhD of Heriot Watt University added: “We’re excited to be working with such an innovative company as Aquapak to promote the use of more multi-functional polymers for a circular economy. We hope the outcome of this KTP will be a catalyst for change within the industry and encourage companies, not only in the UK but worldwide, to adopt a more sustainable approach to their business practices.”