Next-generation materials company, Xampla, has been awarded the Innovate UK Smart Grant alongside 2M Group of Companies to support scaled up manufacturing of its natural, biodegradable Morro materials.
The grant will support the existing European partnership between Xampla and 2M Group of Companies to bring its Milton Keynes manufacturing site up to a Morro production capacity of multiple tonnes per day.
2M Group of Companies has significant expertise in chemical manufacturing, supply, and distribution. The funds will support the group to service the packaging industry with Morro materials, delivering value to its broad customer network in the material and life science industries.
Globally, three million tonnes of petroleum-based, non-biodegradable functional and barrier coatings for single-use paperboard packaging are produced each year. This contaminates paperboard recycling streams, and is frequently incinerated or dumped in landfill, resulting in release into the environment.
Morro Coating is a high performing, drop-in plant-based replacement for these traditional petroleum-based coatings. Fully biodegradable and home compostable, it is safe for food contact and offers high strength, grease, and oxygen barrier properties.
By 2031 Morro materials could replace up to 10,000 tonnes of single-use plastic coatings and one million kilometres of plastic-coated paperboard, otherwise destined for landfill, incineration, or environmental release, per year.
This new funding will not only accelerate the commercialisation of Morro materials but increase the UK’s self-sufficiency in biomanufacturing supply chain – creating jobs, driving regulatory change, and meeting the public demand for plastic-free solutions.
