MPs have thrown their weight behind calls for greater Government support for British businesses developing alternatives to plastic packaging, as Parliament intensifies its focus on tackling the global plastics crisis.
At a Westminster briefing hosted by the Natural Polymers Group, parliamentarians heard how UK-led innovation in nature-based materials could form a £4.2 billion industry and create more than 35,000 high-skilled green jobs across the country.
More than a dozen MPs, peers, and civil servants attended the event, where companies including Xampla, Notpla, MarinaTex, and Plantsea showcased packaging solutions designed to replace single-use plastics entirely.
The Natural Polymers Group brings together seven UK innovators working with materials created in nature, not chemically modified, which are fully biodegradable and compostable. These materials are explicitly excluded from the legal definition of plastic under the Single-Use Plastics Directive and REACH regulations, yet campaigners argue UK policy has been slow to recognise their advantages over conventional plastics.
Industry experts told attendees that meaningful progress on plastic reduction requires intervention across the entire lifecycle of plastics, from production to disposal. Recycling alone, they said, cannot solve the crisis. Modelling presented at the briefing suggested that, with appropriate regulatory and commercial support, natural polymer technologies could support tens of thousands of skilled jobs and establish the UK as a global leader in sustainable materials.
Charlotte Cane, Liberal Democrat MP for Ely and East Cambridgeshire, highlighted the economic potential of the sector. “This exciting industry is leading the way in tackling the global plastic crisis and has huge potential,” she said. “Developing nature-based solutions will help deliver net zero while creating well-paid, highly skilled jobs in communities like mine and across the UK. For too long, policymakers have focused simply on recycling plastic. These innovators show what can be achieved when we set out to replace it altogether.”
Assheton Carter, chair of the Natural Polymers Group, said the discussions marked an important step in aligning regulation with technological progress. “It is encouraging to see MPs, peers, and civil servants engaging directly with innovators on how to accelerate the adoption of natural polymers as credible, mainstream alternatives to plastic,” he said.
Alexandra French, chief executive of Xampla and the group’s UK regulatory lead, added that natural polymers are critical as the economy moves away from fossil fuel-based materials. “These technologies offer a practical and scalable alternative to plastic,” she said. “By working in partnership with policymakers, we can accelerate real-world adoption, driving economic growth for the UK while cutting plastic pollution at source.”
MPs attending the briefing said the industry had “huge potential” and signalled support for shifting the policy debate beyond recycling, towards replacing plastic with innovative, nature-based solutions developed by British businesses.
