Valueform Ltd is a technology company focusing on the development of natural and sustainable packaging solutions. Sub-Saharan Africa is a major producer of fruits and vegetables, yet food losses prevent a sustainable supply chain. This is expressed by these countries having a need to import the very same vegetables they locally produce as the majority of products has gone off before reaching the consumer. And primary and secondary packaging for these countries is currently imported and has a need for active refrigeration, which is in many cases not feasible with local communities having no access to the power grid. In addition, the primary packaging is not made from natural and sustainable source, hence adds an environmental and disposal burden to these countries. The currently used design for the intended storage of fruits and vegetables is imperfect and leads to millions of tons of food wastage lowering the levels of food security. This is a challenge to be addressed as per SDGs. We are developing a novel and innovative packaging that can limit the rate of food waste due to inappropriate storage to the supply chain. Our unit is created of locally available natural products that are inexpensive and readily available in Sub-Saharan Africa as well as developed nations. Our box has an insulating and functional component as well as a smart design that allow longevity of the box and easy replacement of broken/ worn components.

To reduce society's dependence on petroleum based non-renewable polymers, large scale utilization of naturally occurring, abundantly available polymers such as cellulose needs to be developed. One of the major challenges in large scale utilization of cellulose from biomass is dissolution and processing of cellulose to prepare downstream products such as high performance textile fibres. The Viscose method is the most common way to manufacture cellulose fibres; however, it is a complex, multistep process which involves use of very aggressive chemicals and requires a large volume of fresh water. In the 1970s, petroleum based synthetic polymer fibres such as polyester and nylon were commercialised and were proven to be more economical than producing cellulose fibres via the Viscose method. Hence, the production of cellulose fibres was reduced from over 1.3 million tons per year in 1973 to 0.4 million tons per year by 2008 (Source: International Rayon and Synthetic Fibres Committee). To overcome this issue of processing of cellulose we are proposing to develop an environmentally benign method of manufacturing of high performance cellulose fibres using "Green Solvents". The proposed research will help develop sustainable and high performance cellulose fibres which can in-principle replace heavy glass fibres (which requires high energy during its manufacturing) and non-renewable polymer precursors used for manufacturing of carbon fibres which are widely used in composites for aerospace, auto, sports and wind energy industries in UK and abroad.