About The CRC Program

The Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program is an Australian Government initiative that was established in 1990 and funds industry-led collaborations between industry, researchers and end users.

The CRC Program links researchers with industry and government with a focus towards research application, and offers support through two elements:

• Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) grants – supporting medium to long term industry-led collaborations, up to 10 years.
• Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) grants – supporting short term, industry-led collaborative research, up to 3 years.

Innovation and Science Australia and its CRC Advisory Committee provide strategic oversight of the CRC Program.

For more information visit the CRC Program website.

Innovative Development of Biodegradable Healthcare Packaging Products

The biodegradable plastic packaging market expands at a CAGR of 17% from 2022 to 2030, driven by the rising need for sustainable packaging, strict regulations and growing consumer preference for eco-friendly plastic. ECOPHA BIOTECH is leading this CRC-P application in developing sustainable healthcare packaging (SHP) products from using biodegradable polymer polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA)s to replace petroleum-based plastics, as part of its business direction towards medical market of using its canola oil fermented eco-friendly PHAs. These SHP products are applicable to markets such as drug delivery/pharmaceutical, diagnostics and orthopaedics and will contribute significantly to clean up healthcare plastic waste (1.25 million tons/year).

Ecopha Biotech Pty Ltd
University of NSW Santevation Pty Ltd
Refresh Waters Pty Ltd