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The event focused on accelerating collaboration across the value chain to tackle the environmental challenges posed by polymers in liquid formulations (PLFs) and to drive innovation towards more sustainable alternatives.

Workshops, networking opportunities and frank discussions about the challenges and opportunities surrounding PLFs gave attendees a chance to build on existing efforts and look at how further progress can be achieved.

The PLFs industry is worth $125 billion annually and produces 36 million tonnes of products every year, yet almost none of those are currently recycled or reused. The 欧美AV鈥檚 work on PLFs started in 2017 and has continued since then with the formation of the Sustainable PLFs Task Force in 2021.

The annual meetings, which started last year, are organised so that stakeholders from industry and academia can come together in a formal, non-competitive setting to chart a path forward for this group of non-plastic polymers.

Professor Anju Massey-Brooker, Programme Lead for the Sustainable PLFs initiative, was encouraged to see individual interests set aside in the spirit of collaboration, with the goal this time to raise the profile of PLFs.

She said: 鈥淭his has been quite a unique programme that has brought together stakeholders from industry and academia and policymakers to come together.

鈥淭here are problems that are unique, which are pre-commercial challenges that the industry is facing, and we believe if they come together, they will have a stronger voice of influence. Also, if they're looking at collaboration at the pre-competitive level, they can accelerate innovation faster and de-risk investment in innovation such that it benefits the whole ecosystem at large.鈥�

Professor Anju Massey-Brooker (centre) talks with delegates during lunch

Dr Aurora Antemir, System Convener of the Sustainable PLFs 2040 Initiative, kicked off the event with a brief presentation before introducing the Foresight and Coordination Group members before the first workshop got under way.

In-keeping with the collaborative nature of the initiative, stakeholders to share information about their involvement with the effort to overhaul PLFs so far during a workshop run by Dr Anna Birney, CEO of the School of System Change.

During the session, delegates outlined their respective contributions to the PLFs agenda, exchange views on the challenges facing the sector, and work together towards a transition to sustainable versions of these materials.

A pair of highly informative and pertinent presentations restarted events after a networking lunch. Dr Martin Klatt, Head of Product Stewardship Dispersions and Resins at BASF, looked at developments on the EU鈥檚 digital product passport.

He was followed by Professor Andrew Dove, Professor of sustainable polymer chemistry from the University of Birmingham, who discussed the Mission Biodegradability EPSRC Prosperity Partnership and its ongoing efforts.

Building on the diverse range of workshop on the dynamics in the 鈥榝our Fs鈥�: feedstock, fate, functionality and formulation. The attendees were split into four groups, with each discussing the one pillars of the PLFs ecosystem, before reuniting to share their insights.

Rounding off the day, Foresight and Coordination Group members added their reflections from a busy day before Dr Antemir brought proceedings to a close with the announcement of the 2026 meeting date.

Reflecting on the event, Prof Massey-Brooker explained that the overhaul of the industry requires a 鈥榮ystems-level approach鈥� and a reassessment of the entire ecosystem from production to disposal.

She also noted that it would represent the challenge of developing sustainable PLFs is multi-faceted in that they must also be suitable from economic and performance standpoints in addition to an environmental one.

鈥淭his is why we bring together industry partners that serve these sectors, but also players from across the value chain, from producers, the users, and also the waste management companies to think about all the challenges, the value chain and also at the sector level that PLFs are encountering,鈥� she said.

Further reading

• Read our Sustainable PLFs roadmap and explore our work so far.