The Testing Times

Plastics pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental issues facing us today as rapidly increasing production of disposable plastic products overwhelms the world’s ability to deal with them. Europe alone releases micro plastics equivalent to 10 billion plastics bottles into the environment every year through such products as fabric softeners, shampoos and cosmetics, as well as agricultural and industrial products. This extremely damaging environmental problem has become so serious it has prompted efforts to write a global treaty, negotiated by the United Nations. Over half of all plastics ever manufactured have been made in the last 15 years, with current production levels standing at almost 500 tonnes annually. This is generating some 381 million tonnes of plastic waste over the same period. So where do we go from here? One solution to industrial plastic waste has been developed by Cambridge based Xampla. The company has created the world’s first plant protein material