A UNIVERSITY of Bradford invention is set to remove the need for millions of single-use plastic bottles and tubes, bring increased environmental and health benefits and reduce logistics costs.
The ‘crystal engineering’ technology - marketed under the registered trademarks EfferShield and EfferShine - is being described as the biggest shift in the manufacturing process of effervescent products for more than 100 years. Products will be produced under trademark by Skipton-based Health Innovations and Liversedge-based Octopoda Innovations.
This will mean huge Co2 savings during manufacturing, as tablets no longer need to be made in dehumidified conditions It will also lead to a large reduction in the salt content of things like vitamin tablets and other supplements – some tablets currently contain more than twice the salt content of two bags of crisps.
There will also be no need for millions of single-use plastic bottles and tubes, as dry tablets can now be taken home and dissolved in a ‘bottle for life’.
Professor of Pharmaceutical Engineering Anant Paradkar, director of the University’s Centre for Pharmaceutical Engineering Science (CPES), said the breakthrough had global significance.
He said: “This is a major achievement for our university that has global significance in terms of turning the tide on the use of single-use plastics, and reducing the carbon footprint of products, both during manufacturing and transportation.”
Shirley Congdon, university vice-chancellor, said: “This highlights the innovation that can come about through long term knowledge exchange partnerships between the university and industry, that deliver tangible results for the end user, industry, and the environment.
I am particularly excited by the environmental and health benefits this new product will bring to the market
EfferShield and EfferShine are the trademarks of a patented innovation that will completely change the way effervescent products (EPs) are manufactured. EPs contain citric acid and sodium bicarbonate which react together during manufacturing at relatively low humidity levels.
To avoid chemical reactions during manufacture, EPs are made under dehumidified conditions, which uses lots of energy and is, therefore, both expensive and harmful in terms of Co2 emissions.
EPs also have to be packed in moisture-resistant packagings, such as plastic tubes and bottles, many of which are deemed ‘single use’.
The technology has been exclusively licensed to Octopoda Innovations Ltd, based in Liversedge. Octopoda Innovations will formulate, develop, and manufacture cleaning products utilising the Effershine technology.
Health Innovations Group, based in Skipton, is the licensed partner to manufacture, formulate and develop effervescent products in the food and pharma sector utilising the EfferShield technology.
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