Objective
Near 58 billion paper cups are used globally per year. This involves the consumption of one million tonnes of virgin paper, cutting down 32 million trees, the consumption of 100 billion litres of water, the generation of 25,000 tonnes of waste (solely in the UK), and the emission of greenhouses gases equivalent to half a million cars. Paper cups are often lined or coated with plastic such as polyethylene (PE) or oil- based waxes to prevent the liquid from leaking out or soaking through the paper. These paper cups are almost impossible to recycle because of the difficulties of separating the paper from waterproof oil-based liners. This means paper cups end up going to landfill or, at best, are incinerated to generate energy. The heavy environmental impact of paper cups is extremely unsustainable, with each one generating a carbon footprint of 0.11kg of CO2.
UCUP, a novel sustainable paper cup for take-away drinks, provides an innovative solution to reduce the huge environmental impact of disposable cups. UCUP features an eco-innovative material obtained from brown seaweed which is bio-based, biodegradable and recyclable while it provides the same properties as current oil-based liners (waterproof, thermal and mechanical resistance) at a competitive price.
Our main objective is to exploit the business opportunities of this new material in the food packaging and food services packaging (ready-to-eat & take away) sectors. We plan to launch UCUP onto the market and seek to further develop it to a market-ready product. We will use Phase 2 for this purpose, with a total investment of €2 million in 18 months. The overall plan is to market UCUP first in UK and speed up scalability at international level through a network of allies and partners. Thanks to this strategy, we expect to reach a turnover of €8.6 million and 22 employees by 2025.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering waste management waste treatment processes recycling
- social sciences economics and business business and management business models
- engineering and technology materials engineering coating and films
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules carbohydrates
- engineering and technology other engineering and technologies food technology food packaging
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.3.5. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.2.3.1. - Mainstreaming SME support, especially through a dedicated instrument
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-SMEInst-2016-2017
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
E9 5EN LONDON
United Kingdom
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.