The £1 trillion packaging market will go through radical change in the next 10 to 15 years, and Liverpool City Region intends to be right in the centre. The National Packaging Innovation Centre (NPIC) has already opened an office at Liverpool Science Park to focus on research and development, with Phase 2 of the project to focus on housing world-class machinery which will be accessible to industry to prototype sustainable/eco-friendly packaging solutions.
The result of a partnership between Unilever and the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), expected to be supported by a Government investment of £20 million. A considerable step towards the holy grail of eliminating all single-use plastic from the market.
Creating jobs with purpose
The impact across the City Region and beyond will be considerable. The (NPIC) is expected to create 2,000 high-value, sustainable jobs by 2040 and support 12,000 more. And because the concept is so unique, the hope is that it will act as a magnet, drawing the biggest industry players to the area, triggering further growth.
CPI is part of the Catapult network, a series of innovation centres set up to stimulate growth and prosperity in the UK by helping companies – particularly SMEs – to access capabilities they wouldn’t necessarily be able to reach on their own. These centres are where the very best of the UK’s businesses, scientists and engineers work side-by-side on late-stage research and development – transforming high-potential ideas into new products and services to generate economic growth.
Shaping a sustainable future for manufacturing
CPI realised there was a strong need for exactly this kind of centre for the packaging industry, and the City Region was selected as the new home. As Darren Ragheb, Strategic Programmes Manager for CPI, explains: “When you look at what’s happening in the world in terms of sustainability, reducing plastic waste and food waste, it’s clear there needs to be a lot of innovation in this space. The shift to online retail – exacerbated by COVID and the reduction in physical shopping – and the need for more personalised products, means there is going to be a massive change in packaging over the next 10 to 15 years and we want the UK to lead the way for innovation.”
The centre itself would employ around 60 people directly but would partner with packaging companies on research and development (R&D), creating jobs in related businesses including packaging companies, equipment manufacturers, materials suppliers, designers and universities. “It becomes a virtuous cycle where they grow their in-house capabilities, innovations lead to new products, then job creation can sky-rocket,” says Darren.
Darren added that it will be a David and Goliath approach: “It is all about collaboration – that is how the UK can win in this space. Rather than trying to compete with global packaging companies’ R&D centres, we will compete on agility, the ability to bring collaborators together quickly, and the fact we can take more risks, try more adventurous innovations.”
Making the City Region the place to be
Yet long-term, the hope is that some of the big players will take notice of the great leaps forward being made in the City Region and will decide it’s essential they’re a part of it. Because of the area’s hugely desirable sea, air and rail connections, and the fact that Unilever’s 150-strong packaging and engineering team are already there, there is plenty to convince high-growth, high-value companies to set up there too.
The NPIC will encapsulate many of the City Region’s strengths, where radical thinking will spur on innovation to make a real difference. Eliminating single-use plastic is too big a challenge to be achieved through any individual project. But by bringing specialists together with the common aim of finding better ways of doing things, the NPIC hopes to create a healthier society, a cleaner environment and a vibrant UK economy.
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