In Scotland, CuanTec says it is close to launching biodegradable beer packaging made from chitin, a material extracted from lobster shells and discarded by the fishing industry. The product is intended to replace the ubiquitous plastic rings used to hold together six-packs of beer. The company has partnered with craft brewery Jaw Brew for the product’s rollout and launched a crowdfunder.co.uk campaign to raise the money necessary to add staff, expand its facility, and develop prototypes.
“If we get the science right in the next six months, they could be available by the end of the year,”
says CEP Cait Murray-Green. “We have done tests in our own lab and we reckon we’ve got strong ideas for formulation. We are pretty confident we can get that work out quite quickly.”
The company—a Stathclyde University spin-out—is also working on a plastic wrap alternative and single-use milk bottle made from chitin.