Centre set up to help industry cut waste
UNIVERSITY GETS £4.5M FUNDING TO SUPPORT CHEMICALS FIRMS
SCIENTISTS have been granted £4.5 million to help chemicals manufacturers tackle waste and boost recycling.
The Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy, at Loughborough University, is one of five across the UK.
It will explore how the reuse of waste materials in textiles, construction, chemicals, transport, electronics and metal industries can protect the environment and boost the economy.
The centre will also explore how to reduce the chemical industry’s reliance on fossil fuels, researching the best ways to recycle the raw materials used in the production of items such as synthetic fibres, plastics and detergents.
Professor Jin Xuan, who will lead the centre, said: “According to a United Nations report, chemicals production and consumption needs to be doubled in the next 10 years in order to fulfil our basic needs.
“But that is simply not going to happen unless we adopt a circular economy approach.
“Our centre will kick start this timely transition of the UK’s £32 billion chemical industry into a circular system.
“We believe such transition to a circular economy will not be possible unless a network of organisations, the government and the public are willing to work together.
“We are confident our research will make a strong contribution to the UK’s Industrial Strategy on Clean Growth.”
Energy minister Kwasi Kwarteng said: “Our chemical industry has a long and proud heritage and I am pleased to see Loughborough University pioneering ways to make it greener.
“This centre will make a vital contribution to reducing our emissions, helping us to build back greener from coronavirus and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.”
Research has shown that expanding the circular economy of reuse and recycling could create 500,000 jobs by 2030.
Professor Dame Lynn Gladden, executive chairman of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, said: “The move to a circular economy, where we use less resources and reuse more materials, is central to the UK’s green industrial revolution and our commitment to achieving a net zero economy by 2050.”