Funding of almost £600,000 from the Welsh Government's Academic Expertise for Business (A4B) programme is facilitating the Sustainable Products from Ryegrass (STARS) project, a collaborative programme of research between Bangor and Aberystwyth Universities and six industrial partners including Waitrose.
The project is investigating a range of products that can be produced from ryegrass, including easily-recycled, fiber-based packaging for foods and other low-carbon commodity materials, including biofuels and platform chemicals.
Industry partners, including Waitrose and Adare, which will be supplying the fiber-based packaging for store trials, are also working closely with the universities on the project.
The expertise and market insight of the key industry stakeholders will be key to maximizing the potential for the products to be commercialized.
The project is being led by the BioComposites Centre at Bangor University and the Institute of Biological Environmental and Rural Sciences at Aberystwyth University.
