From takeaway packaging to beauty products, plastics have become inseparable from modern life, but their environmental and social costs are increasingly hard to ignore.
Try to find five things around you right now that do not contain plastic. You might find it harder than you think.
Contrary to popular belief, plastic production is not slowing down; it has, in fact, grown by roughly 180% since 2000. Plastics are cheap and, as they are derived from fossil fuels, deeply embedded in our current industrial and economic systems. These synthetic polymers continue to have significant environmental consequences and are increasingly affecting human health as microplastics move through the food chain.
Recycling plays a significant role in resisting single-use culture. However, the promise of recycling is often oversold. Only around 9% of plastic waste is recycled globally, and it cannot be recycled indefinitely as its chemical bonds degrade with each cycle. In practice, many common plastics are recycled just one to three times before they become too weak for further use.
Shellworks offer a compelling example of what can be achieved when you embrace the idea of true circularity, inspired by natural systems. The London-based biomaterials start-up has developed a material called VIVOMER, derived from polymers found in naturally occurring microorganisms. When these organisms consume organic carbon sources, such as. used cooking oil and plant sugars, they store that energy in the form of polymers; a process which can be replicated and scaled up through fermentation.
The material can be produced in different grades depending on its intended application. Designed to perform like conventional plastic, it can be stored and used indefinitely without degrading, even with repeated washing, until it enters a composting environment. At which point, microorganisms in the soil will recognise the substance and consume it. Under healthy composting conditions, the product will fully break down in around a year, leaving no harmful residue or trace behind.
In March 2026, Shellworks secured funding of around $15 million (£11 million) and, although only founded in 2019, has already produced and sold around eight million units. Crucially, VIVOMER has been designed to integrate seamlessly into existing manufacturing systems, enabling its use within current supply chains and with standard plastic-forming equipment.
Another emerging player is the London-based company Notpla, which has developed a range of materials derived from seaweed and plant-based polymers as an alternative to single-use plastics. Notpla’s products are also fully biodegradable and can break down naturally within weeks, in some cases even being edible.
Beyond plant-based materials, mycelium, the root structure of fungi, is also being used to create packaging alternatives. UK start-up Magical Mushroom Company (MMC) grows packaging by combining mycelium with agricultural waste such as hemp or crop residues. The resulting material is lightweight, durable, and biodegradable, offering a direct replacement for fossil-fuel-based products like polystyrene.
Biomaterial startups in the UK are scaling plastic alternatives that do not require compromise, creating a greener, more circular future. Photo by Sandie Clarke on Unsplash.
Given the sheer volume of plastic we encounter every day, the potential for materials like these to scale is immense, offering low-carbon pathways to reduce our reliance on fossil-fuel-based plastics.
Investment in biomaterials and sustainable packaging innovation has grown significantly over the past five years, driven by activism, public pressure, and evolving regulation. Over this time, the UK has introduced and developed policies to help tackle plastic waste, including the Plastic Packaging Tax, which incentivises the use of recycled materials by taxing packaging with less than 30% recycled content.
More recently, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) reforms have placed a greater financial responsibility on producers, requiring them to cover the full cost of collecting and managing packaging waste, shifting responsibility from taxpayers to businesses.
This reflects a broader shift across Europe to crack down on single-use plastics.
Governments and industry must continue to work together to refine these policies and create new ones to prevent unnecessary plastic from entering the market in the first place. In this way, policymakers can drive costs down and scalability up, ease barriers, drive public enthusiasm to challenge the status quo, and move these alternatives from niche solutions to mainstream practice.
Biomaterials companies in the UK are providing alternatives to plastic that do not require compromise, creating a greener, more circular future.
Alternatives to plastic exist without compromising performance or usability, and history has shown that material transitions are possible. Substances once considered indispensable, such as asbestos, have now been completely phased out.
Plastic is the gateway in and out of the ‘cradle to grave’ culture. The move away from linear, single-use models represents an exciting shift away from hyper-consumption. The circular economy approach is a rediscovery of how nature already operates, where waste is not discarded but continuously repurposed as a resource.
As biomaterial companies scale up, they offer a glimpse of a future where materials are designed with their full lifecycle in mind, and no longer outlive the people who use them.
Let us revisit that earlier challenge. Look around you again, at the objects that surround your daily life. Ask yourself, ‘Does it have to be this way?’ Could any of these be replaced with simple, more sustainable alternatives?
