Cambridge University spin-out Xampla has today launched its first ever consumer brand, Morro, as part of continued efforts to replace the most polluting forms of plastics with natural materials.
The company said its "Morro marque" is designed to provide a 'gold standard' that will indicate where high-performing, sustainable, plant-based materials have been used to make products in a way that is good for the planet.
Morro's technology is completely plastic-free, and the material is not chemically modified, ensuring it is able to break down with food waste and even in the sea or soil if it accidently ends up there.
Its also claims its materials are completely natural - and can be edible and soluble - meaning they can be used in applications where the whole product, packaging and all, is either cooked or eaten together - for example in 'micro-packaging' for vitamins and nutrients.
Xampla's plant protein and polymer-based technology is based on 15 years of research at the University of Cambridge and is designed to offer a drop-in solution compatible with existing manufacturing processes for single-use plastics and microplastics.
It is already used by global brands such as meal kit maker Gousto and soft drink manufacturer Britvic, and has been successfully implemented in a range of applications from edible stock cubes to vitamin microcapsules.
The announcement comes as a survey of 2,000 UK adults commissioned by the company showed that more than half of those quizzed see plastic as a "material of the past".
Moreover, 76 per cent of respondents prefer their products "to come in natural, plastic free packaging that can be composted at home or taken by the council alongside food waste".
Pete Hutton, executive chair at Xampla, said the polling data shows that the public is already ahead of industry in seeing that plastic's days are numbered.
"With the public ever more acutely aware of the dangers of plastic pollution and carbon cost of producing it, consumers are ready for an innovative and practical alternative," he said.
"Morro will enable brands to make an easy switch away from single-use plastics, and our breakthrough material can do things plastic never could."
The news comes just days after a report commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers for the Environment and Climate, and developed by consultancy Systemiq, found that a robust global plastic policy regime could reduce the amount of mismanaged plastic by 90 per cent a year and result in a 30 per cent drop in fossil fuelled plastic production within 17 years.
