Public Funding for Adreco Limited

Air quality, carbon emissions, health, wellbeing, and road congestion are serious issues facing British society and active travel i.e., walking and cycling is a key DfT strategy to improve them all. The statutory DfT Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy has £21.2bn over 2 years pledged for infrastructure and active travel projects with the ambition to double cycling for short journeys by 2025\. Although cycling has proven health benefits, cyclists are the most vulnerable of road users and in 2020 UK data shows 141 were killed and 16,294 seriously injured on the roads with fatality and injury rates per billion miles of 28 and 3240 respectively compared to 3 and 307 for cars. Swedish data shows that head and skull trauma account for 26% of all serious cycling injuries with a 42% rate of severe impairment. Work at Imperial shows that current helmet test standards are limited as they only consider linear impacts and not rotational impacts shown to contribute towards traumatic brain injuries (TBI). UK Helmet usage rates are typically only 20%. Practical reasons commonly cited for not wearing helmets include carriage and storage between journeys particularly when commuting, discomfort i.e., too hot, or cold, uncomfortable, or heavy. There is a clear need for a cycling safety helmet that can be stored compactly between uses. Our solution is VENTETE, a cycle helmet with a lightweight inflatable structural system that when deflated occupies 1/10 of its original volume and provides superior cooling compared to conventional helmets. BSI test data shows that VENTETE exceeds current standards and is best-in-class for linear impacts. Work at Imperial shows the existing VENTETE concept also performs highly under rotational impact loads. The objective of this collaborative project between VENTETE, Adreco and Imperial College is to build upon the VENTETE concept and develop a class leading design that will perform exceptionally in rotational impact tests. It will meet or exceed the anticipated additional standard under discussion by ISO for introduction in 1-2 years' time.

High consumption and mismanagement of plastic waste cannot continue. **_Globally, around 8 million tonnes of plastic waste is added to the world's oceans every year and the marine environment is now an area of major concern._** It is important to note that: \*Waste plastics can require hundreds of years to decompose \*Single-use plastics discourage recycling and re-use, thus increasing disposal problems Recycling plastics into low grade applications does little to reduce demand for virgin plastics. By improving the properties of recycled plastics, we can use them in more technically demanding applications. **_By designing circular economies and recovering materials for the manufacture of replacement items, the UK could reduce raw material imports and virgin plastic consumption by up to 50%_** \[GreenAlliance\]. Hard hats are just one example of an unsustainable market model. Regulations dictate that they must be disposed of at least every 5 years to maintain safety and impact performance, but they are challenging to recycle - degradation occurs in use and during the recycling process. Despite hard hats being a useful source of plastic, they aren't currently accepted for commercial recycling. Current hat designs require virgin plastics to obtain good strength properties and removal of the hat's suspension system is labour intensive. **_To support the high-level objective of improving recycling rates and reducing consumption of virgin material, Yes Recycling will begin by creating the world's first circular economy scheme for hard hats._** By delivering our innovative solution, we will contribute to solving a critical problem, whilst generating £19 million in accumulated profits and creating around 60 new jobs within 5 years of project completion. This project will help us meet our own business objectives, but more importantly it will help encourage broader recycling activities, demonstrating that they can be carried out profitably. This project creates a lucrative business opportunity and will prove that recycling into technically demanding applications can be successful. **_This will reduce the amount of new plastic that is consumed, reduce waste and deliver tangible benefits in waste reduction and environmental impact._** Yes Recycling has state-of-the-art facilities in Buckinghamshire, significant expertise in operating advanced recycling processes and a strong track record of successful innovation. We have secured major recycling contracts, which reflects the strength of our processing knowledge and extensive facilities. This includes re-processing of shredded bank notes on behalf of the Bank of England.