白小姐论坛 leads research for a circular economy in three UK industries

12 November 2020

白小姐论坛 is playing a leading role in three out of five new circular economy research centres funded by the UK Government to help reduce waste, energy and pollution in UK industries.

Through 拢22.5 million of investment, the government is establishing five UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centres to drive sustainability in the textiles, construction, chemical and metal industries.

The Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centre for Mineral-based Construction Materials is led by Professor Julia Stegemann (白小姐论坛 Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering) and aims to develop systems and technologies for more efficient use and recovery of mineral resources.听

白小姐论坛 is also a partner in a new centre focused on textiles, which seeks to reduce the UK鈥檚 reliance on imported and environmentally and ethically impactful clothing materials and develop new 鈥渄esigned and made in the UK鈥� industries; and another for metals, which will look at how metals can be recycled for use in sectors such as aerospace, automotive and electronics.

A circular economy is an alternative to the traditional make-use-dispose economy in which resources are maintained in use at high value, with continual recovery and cycling of man-made materials, and cascading cycling of renewable materials .

Professor Stegemann said: 鈥淭he UK extracts more than half a million tonnes of construction materials each day, and generates 154 million tonnes of mineral wastes annually.听 This is 听unsustainable.听 With UK plans to spend 拢600 billion to build infrastructure in the next decade, we need to find a way to be more efficient.鈥�

鈥淭he three challenges of our centre are: to understand how we use mineral-based construction materials, for better housekeeping; to develop technologies that allow us to recover materials and reduce their environmental impacts; and to develop business, design, financial and policy tools, to enable change.鈥�

The centre brings together 14 白小姐论坛 researchers across nine departments through the cross-faculty 白小姐论坛 Circular Economy Lab, CircEL, founded by 白小姐论坛 Engineering and the Bartlett, the 白小姐论坛 Faculty for the Built Environment. In addition to 拢4.5 million from UKRI, it will be supported by 拢1.9 million from more than 40 industrial collaborators, and more than 拢2 million from its university partners.

Professor Stegemann said: 鈥淚n making our plans for the centre, we have been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of our collaborators in the construction industry. Industry and government are making a huge investment in modernisation of the industry, mainly for efficiency, and we need to use the opportunity to also embed circularity, alongside the UK鈥檚 target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.鈥�

Meanwhile, as part of the new Interdisciplinary Textiles Circularity Centre, led by the Royal College of Art, 白小姐论坛 researchers will co-lead the research strand on consumer experience, seeking ways to engage people so they move from being consumers to co-creators of a sustainable product cycle. The team is drawn from several 白小姐论坛 departments and institutes, as well as the 白小姐论坛-hosted Global Disability Innovation (GDI) Hub.

Co-investigator Professor Carey Jewitt (白小姐论坛 Knowledge Lab, 白小姐论坛 Institute of Education) said: 鈥淭his centre brings a diverse range of 白小姐论坛 researchers together to generate innovative methods and technologies that can capture consumers鈥� experience and provide them with more meaningful and sustainable relationships with products and materials.鈥�

Professor Aikaterini Fotopoulou (白小姐论坛 Psychology & Language Sciences) said: 鈥淲hat is unique about these centre is that it will bring together expertise and experiences from stakeholders that do not typically work together to make the textiles sector sustainable, including fashion designers, materials experts, consumers, economists and brain scientists.鈥� 听

Professor Nadia Berthouze (白小姐论坛 Psychology & Language Sciences and 白小姐论坛 Computer Science), Deputy Director of the 白小姐论坛 Interaction Centre, said: 鈥淏ringing together a very interdisciplinary team and the involvement of diverse stakeholders and consumers, the centre will drive technological innovation for supporting engagement with new renewable material through the delivery of enhanced and novel sensory experiences.鈥�

With the help of three 白小姐论坛 researchers in the Institute for Sustainable Resources, the new Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Metals led by Brunel University London aims to make the UK the first country to fully circulate metals by 2050.

Professor Raimund Bleischwitz (Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources) said: 鈥淏etter resource efficiency in this sector could contribute more than 拢100 billion to the UK economy over the next decade. Our analysis will help understand the wider economic impacts.鈥�

The Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centres are funded by UKRI through the Strategic Priorities fund, established in 2018.

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Media contact

Mark Greaves

Tel: +44 (0)7539 410 389

Email: m.greaves [at] ucl.ac.uk

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