UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy
Lead Research Organisation:
Loughborough University
Department Name: Chemical Engineering
Abstract
The UK chemical sector has an annual turnover of over £32 billion with 99,000 direct jobs in 2016. The Centre's vision is to transform the UK's chemical industry into a fossil-independent, climate-positive and environmentally-friendly circular chemical economy. The overall novelty of our programme is the development of a sector-wide solution with deep circularity interventions, by creating a circular resources flow of olefin-the raw material for 70% of all organic chemical production. Our whole system approach will include key sectors of production, transportation/distribution, refinery/downstream, use and waste recycling, to reduce fossil reliance and improve productivity and sustainability of the whole process industry.
The Centre will generate a cross-disciplinary platform combining synergistic innovations in science/engineering with social scientists to comprehend the whole system industrial symbiosis and market/policy/incentive design. The Core Research Programme is organised around three interconnected themes: (1) Key technologies to enable olefin production from alternative/recycling wastes streams and design more reusable chemicals via advanced catalytic processes; (2) Process integration, whole system analysis and value chain evaluation, and (3) Policy, society and finance. Through detailed process modelling, economic analysis and environmental assessment of technology solutions along the supply chain, accelerated understanding, opportunities and optimum solutions to achieve circularity of olefin-derived resources flow will be attained. These activities are embedded with stakeholders involving all affected groups, including local SMEs and downstream users, and will provide evidence and data for policymakers.
The Centre will engage with users through social studies and organised events, and exploit consumer/business behavioural change related to chemical systems enabling a sustainable community and society with innovative technologies.
The Centre will generate a cross-disciplinary platform combining synergistic innovations in science/engineering with social scientists to comprehend the whole system industrial symbiosis and market/policy/incentive design. The Core Research Programme is organised around three interconnected themes: (1) Key technologies to enable olefin production from alternative/recycling wastes streams and design more reusable chemicals via advanced catalytic processes; (2) Process integration, whole system analysis and value chain evaluation, and (3) Policy, society and finance. Through detailed process modelling, economic analysis and environmental assessment of technology solutions along the supply chain, accelerated understanding, opportunities and optimum solutions to achieve circularity of olefin-derived resources flow will be attained. These activities are embedded with stakeholders involving all affected groups, including local SMEs and downstream users, and will provide evidence and data for policymakers.
The Centre will engage with users through social studies and organised events, and exploit consumer/business behavioural change related to chemical systems enabling a sustainable community and society with innovative technologies.
Organisations
- Loughborough University (Lead Research Organisation)
- Unilever (Netherlands) (Collaboration)
- North East of England Process Industry Cluster (Collaboration)
- University of Barcelona (Collaboration)
- Aarhus University (Collaboration)
- Argent Energy (Collaboration)
- Zinergy UK ltd (Project Partner)
- Scottish Enterprise (Project Partner)
- Chivas Brothers Ltd (Project Partner)
- European Bioplastics (Project Partner)
- Britvic Soft Drinks Ltd (Project Partner)
- PV3 Technologies (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Du Pont Teijin Films (Project Partner)
- Lubrizol Ltd (Project Partner)
- Centre for Process Innovation (Project Partner)
- Johnson Matthey (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Project Partner)
- NSG Group (UK) (Project Partner)
- NiTech Solutions (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- National Chiao Tung University (Project Partner)
- Plastic Energy (Project Partner)
- Unilever (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Wrap (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Ceres Power (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Zero Waste Scotland (Project Partner)
- Ethical Finance Hub Ltd (Project Partner)
- Croda (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Princeton University (Project Partner)
- Shell (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Chemical Sciences Scotland (Project Partner)
Publications
Alam MS
(2021)
General discussion: Aerosol formation and growth; VOC sources and secondary organic aerosols.
in Faraday discussions
Arrigo R
(2021)
Dynamics at Polarized Carbon Dioxide-Iron Oxyhydroxide Interfaces Unveil the Origin of Multicarbon Product Formation
in ACS Catalysis
Baker T
(2022)
Non-Technical Challenges to Non-Mechanical Recycling
Bernardi A
(2022)
14th International Symposium on Process Systems Engineering
Bloss W
(2021)
General discussion: Urban air quality; Meteorological influences and air quality trends.
in Faraday discussions
Eagle C
(2023)
A manganese complex on a gas diffusion electrode for selective CO 2 to CO reduction
in Sustainable Energy & Fuels
Garcia-Osorio DA
(2023)
Hybrid photocathode based on a Ni molecular catalyst and Sb2Se3 for solar H2 production.
in Chemical communications (Cambridge, England)
Ghavam S
(2021)
The life cycle environmental impacts of a novel sustainable ammonia production process from food waste and brown water
in Journal of Cleaner Production
Jiang H
(2023)
Machine learning based techno-economic process optimisation for CO2 capture via enhanced weathering
in Energy and AI
Khan M
(2021)
Redox mediator as cathode modifier for enhanced degradation of azo dye in a sequential dual chamber microbial fuel cell-aerobic treatment process
in International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
| Description | • New knowledge generated from theme 1 (enabling technologies) has informed a comprehensive model-based comparison between single- or two-stage electrocatalytic and thermocatalytic CO2 conversion pathways into ethylene using green electricity led by theme 2 (systems). The most competitive technologies (direct CO2 electroreduction and CO2 catalytic hydrogenation) followed by methanol-to-olefins) have a predicted cost about 3 times that of the current ethylene market price based on proven catalyst performance), and electricity needs to meet the UK's annual ethylene production (2.8 Mt per year) are a significant fraction (30-50%) of the UK's electricity production, thereby informing further technology development in theme 1. This body of work will also guide the grand planning UK's circular olefin production from alternative feedstocks. • At process level, the potential of ethane cracker electrification was assessed through detailed process modelling of both the cracker and its downstream separation train. The study highlighted high heat integration potential, e.g., compared to a gas-fired cracker retrofitted with a carbon capture unit, demonstrating the need for detailed process modelling instead of simple short-cut models. • A model-based assessment of the solid waste route to ethylene was refined for upcycling of sorted polyolefinic plastics, comparing a depolymerization reactor based on fast pyrolysis with established feedstock-recycling pyrolysis technology. Key findings include a significantly higher economic potential of the latter, despite presenting a lower ethylene yield, insofar as the pyrolysis oils can be co-fed to the naphtha cracker of an existing refinery. |
| Exploitation Route | We have hosted several well-attended industrial engagement events to initiate and build industrial contacts (e.g. Unilever, BASF, Croda, Suez, CPI, ReNew ELP, Chivas Brothers, Greenskill Environmental Technology, Scottish Water, Scottish Enterprise, NEPIC, LanzaTech, Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), Natwest, Biffa, Britvic, Johnson Matthey, EMR, Ineos, Ceres Power, Reckitt, Lubrizol, and Viridor). Follow up discussions and events are enabling us to build sustained relationships with these partners, enabling us to now focus the second half of our project on co-creation of research across and between all Themes. |
| Sectors | Chemicals |
| Description | Although, the impact of our work is at an early stage, we have identified pathways to accelerate impact and some early impacts have already been seen. Our new circular chemical technologies developments have generated knowledge and influenced several industrial partners in adopting or preparing to adopt these new technologies to make their chemical productions more sustainable. For example, our electrochemical CO2-to-olefin technology has attracted investments from INEOS (UK's largest olefin producer) in the form of innovation fund for sustainable ethylene production. This will inform the company's electrochemical transformation towards circular economy productions. In another case, we have used our technology development to help build a circular chemical economy case for the maritime sector for a group of companies (Expleo, Rolls-Royce, Ceres, Bibby Marine). Also, our new circular technology and initial TEA and LCA have resulted in the design of the UK's -first-ever circular value chain for consumer good product from industrial waste gases (to be built in two years) via the Flue2Chem project. By engaging with NEPIC and the Humber cluster, we are part of a cross-cluster network that explores integration, scale up and delivery of demonstrators for circular chemical economy. We have recently submitted a joint proposal to Innovate UK's NICER programme call to support this work. In addition to this we are also working with the Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge (IDRIC) to accelerate impact. In our commitment to provide professional development opportunities and foster ED&I within our team, we have actively encouraged early career researchers to work on cross disciplinary projects. For instance, one of our Theme 1 PDRAs participated in a 3-month policy secondment project in collaboration with WRAP to identify/evaluate the most promising technologies for recycling chemicals from 'sludge', accounting for ~7 million tonnes of residual wastes. This work highlighted significant challenges with the current classification and processing of this highly mixed waste stream, impeding the application of a single processing solution. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Chemicals |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic,Policy & public services |
| Description | Provided evidence for POSTnote titled "Green Steel" |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | https://post.parliament.uk/research-briefings/post-pn-0672/ |
| Description | Submitted a response to "Just Transition to Net Zero Wales" |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | https://www.gov.wales/just-transition-net-zero-wales |
| Description | Submitted a response to "Towards a market for low emissions products" online call for evidence |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | https://beisgovuk.citizenspace.com/clean-growth/market-low-emissions-products-cfe/ |
| Description | Submitted evidence for "Technological innovations and climate change onshore solar energy" online consultation call |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | https://committees.parliament.uk/work/7037/technological-innovations-and-climate-change-onshore-sola... |
| Description | Digital Circular Electrochemical Economy (DCEE) |
| Amount | £964,620 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/V042432/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2021 |
| End | 08/2024 |
| Description | EPSRC Core Equipment Award 2022 |
| Amount | £650,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/X035433/1 |
| Organisation | Loughborough University |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2022 |
| End | 02/2024 |
| Description | Flue2Chem - Building a UK value chain in converting industrial waste gases into sustainable materials for consumer products. |
| Amount | £5,359,053 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 10030637 |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 12/2022 |
| End | 11/2024 |
| Description | Policy seedcorn funding |
| Amount | £14,490 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Loughborough University |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2022 |
| End | 07/2022 |
| Title | Supplementary information files for: Data-driven surrogate modelling and multi-variable optimization of trickle bed and packed bubble column reactors for CO2 capture via enhanced weathering |
| Description | Supplementary information files for: Data-driven surrogate modelling and multi-variable optimization of trickle bed and packed bubble column reactors for CO2 capture via enhanced weathering Enhanced weathering (EW) of minerals could potentially absorb atmospheric CO2 at gigaton scale per year and store it as bicarbonate and carbonate in the ocean. However, this process must be accelerated by engineered reactors, in which optimal reaction conditions maximise the CO2 capture rate and minimise the energy and water consumption. In this work, trickle beds (TBs) and packed bubble columns (PBCs), operated with fresh water and CO2 -rich flue gas, are chosen as typical chemical reactors to perform the EW-based CO2 capture. We firstly develop experimentally validated physics-based mechanistic models then generate data to train data-driven surrogate models to achieve rapid prediction of performance and multi-variable optimization. Two surrogate models, namely, response surface methodology (RSM) and extended adaptive hybrid functions (E-AHF), are developed and compared, in which the effect of five design variables on three objective functions are investigated. Results show that the R2 for the prediction of CO2 capture rate (CR) and water consumption (WC) through RSM and E-AHF is higher than 0.84. For TB reactors, in particular, the calculated R2 is higher than 0.96. The prediction accuracy of energy consumption (EC) through the RSM approach is, however, relatively poor (R2 ~ 0.79), but is improved by using the E-AHF surrogate model, increasing to R2 ~ 0.89. The developed data-driven surrogate model can rapidly predict the performance indicators of TB and PBC reactors without solving complex mechanistic models consisting of many partial differential equations. After optimization using the surrogate models, improvements were achieved in the objectives for TB and PBC reactors as follows: CR increased by 37.8% and 13.1%, EC reduced by 37.4% and 23.8%, and WC reduced by 12.5% and 40.7%, respectively. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/dataset/Supplementary_information_files_for_Data-driven_surr... |
| Title | Supplementary information files for: Data-driven surrogate modelling and multi-variable optimization of trickle bed and packed bubble column reactors for CO2 capture via enhanced weathering |
| Description | Supplementary information files for: Data-driven surrogate modelling and multi-variable optimization of trickle bed and packed bubble column reactors for CO2 capture via enhanced weathering Enhanced weathering (EW) of minerals could potentially absorb atmospheric CO2 at gigaton scale per year and store it as bicarbonate and carbonate in the ocean. However, this process must be accelerated by engineered reactors, in which optimal reaction conditions maximise the CO2 capture rate and minimise the energy and water consumption. In this work, trickle beds (TBs) and packed bubble columns (PBCs), operated with fresh water and CO2 -rich flue gas, are chosen as typical chemical reactors to perform the EW-based CO2 capture. We firstly develop experimentally validated physics-based mechanistic models then generate data to train data-driven surrogate models to achieve rapid prediction of performance and multi-variable optimization. Two surrogate models, namely, response surface methodology (RSM) and extended adaptive hybrid functions (E-AHF), are developed and compared, in which the effect of five design variables on three objective functions are investigated. Results show that the R2 for the prediction of CO2 capture rate (CR) and water consumption (WC) through RSM and E-AHF is higher than 0.84. For TB reactors, in particular, the calculated R2 is higher than 0.96. The prediction accuracy of energy consumption (EC) through the RSM approach is, however, relatively poor (R2 ~ 0.79), but is improved by using the E-AHF surrogate model, increasing to R2 ~ 0.89. The developed data-driven surrogate model can rapidly predict the performance indicators of TB and PBC reactors without solving complex mechanistic models consisting of many partial differential equations. After optimization using the surrogate models, improvements were achieved in the objectives for TB and PBC reactors as follows: CR increased by 37.8% and 13.1%, EC reduced by 37.4% and 23.8%, and WC reduced by 12.5% and 40.7%, respectively. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/dataset/Supplementary_information_files_for_Data-driven_surr... |
| Description | Agent Energy and HVB PoC |
| Organisation | Argent Energy |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Through this collaboration, the aim of this research is to develop an optimised MES process with enhanced selectivity for high-value long-chain carbohydrates (C4-C8) production. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Argent Energy will contribute in several ways for this project as a research partner. This includes providing: • Information on effluent waste gas enriched with CO2, and effluent organic waste streams; • Advice on research questions and directions for the project; • Staff time in project evaluation and taking part in project review meetings, • Access to site visits and relevant on-site data. |
| Impact | Secured a BBSRC High value Biorenewables PoC funding with the project "Enhance selectivity for high value bioproducts from CO2 and waste organics through microbial electrosynthesis". |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Bicarbonate reduction to CO |
| Organisation | Aarhus University |
| Country | Denmark |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have been exchanged knowledge on CO2 electrochemical reduction. My group provided atomistic rationalisation to their experiments. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Knowledge exchange. |
| Impact | Peer-reviewed research publications. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Computational catalyst design |
| Organisation | University of Barcelona |
| Country | Spain |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The collaboration has opened a wide range of opportunities to share students, skills and knowledge regarding the computational design and techniques to model heterogeneous catalysts. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners at Barcelona send a PhD student for 3 months and, currently, it manages weekly meetings and access to computational resources for the student, which I am also externally supervising . |
| Impact | Peer-reviewed research publication. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Sustainable ethylene production on Teesside |
| Organisation | North East of England Process Industry Cluster |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Conduct a techno-economic and environmental assessment based on detailed process simulations for selected routes, with a focus on high technology readiness level and using ethylene from ethane crackers and bioethanol as benchmarks |
| Collaborator Contribution | Identify and map waste feedstocks that could potentially be processed to produce ethylene then create potential supply-chain maps |
| Impact | collaboration ongoing no firm outputs beyond relationship building and case study definition at this point |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Sustainable production of chemicals |
| Organisation | Unilever |
| Department | Unilever UK R&D Centre Port Sunlight |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | This collaboration is focused on identifying new pathways for the production of valuable chemicals, which are key components for home care products from renewable and waste derived sources. The main pathway involves the high throughput synthesis and screening of heterogeneous catalysts that are responsible for the conversion of the waste sources to chemicals. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Identifies the targeted chemicals and contributes to the analysis of the outputs from the catalytic reactions. |
| Impact | An iCase Phd Studentship on the accelerated discovery of catalysts that convert CO2 to long chain alcohols. A Prosperity Partnership research grant. Title "Cleaner Futures (Next-Generation Sustainable Materials for Consumer Products)" - Budget £5M. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Title | IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTROCHEMICAL REDUCTION OF CARBON DIOXIDE |
| Description | An electrochemical cell comprising a gas diffusion electrode for the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide. The gas diffusion electrode comprises a gas diffusion layer and a nickel or manganese-based molecular catalyst comprising an organic ligand. The gas diffusion electrode may provide a selective electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide, in preference to hydrogen, and may be useful for the production of carbon monoxide from industrial waste gas streams of carbon dioxide. A nickel-based molecular catalyst and a method of electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide are also disclosed. |
| IP Reference | WO2022129895 |
| Protection | Patent / Patent application |
| Year Protection Granted | 2022 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | patent published seekign exploitation pathways with university ip team. Ongoing develoment of ip occurign with 2nd filing underway |
| Description | Accelerating Circularity in Chemicals Manufacturing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | On 15th November 2022, CircularChem hosted a workshop at Heriot-Watt University. The workshop was offered both in person and remotely and explored the opportunities and risks in upscaling circularity model in the chemical industry. Workshop Background: Chemicals bring about benefits upon which modern society is entirely dependent, but meanwhile the chemical industry is among the world's large consumption of fossil fuel. Despite the strong desire from the chemical sector to improve the circularity of its processes, existing initiatives have been mostly based on specific/isolated product lines, with limited scope for wider application. What to expect? In this one-day workshop, we aim to bring researchers, industry leaders and policy makers together to reflect on the barriers and difficulties in the development of chemical circularity, as well as identify opportunities for upscaling and new business scenarios. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/events/accelerating-circularity-in-chemicals-manufacturing/ |
| Description | Attended BASF Rawcliffe bridge sustainability site |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Invited to attend BASF's rawcliffe sustainable site to discuss sustainability in the chemical industry and exchange ideas. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | B4NZ Project Perseus Steering Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | To convene & combine individual expertise to help understand how the UK may better modernise ESG data access. To address the fact that there is not yet a dominant standard for SMEs to report GHG emissions. To automate GHG reporting for SMEs to enable banks, financial institutions and related organisations to assist UK SMEs in the Race to Net Zero. To enable the B4NZ operational team to develop a full programme of work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | BBC Radio Five Live Interview |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Professor Peter Styring represented the Centre and talked about the shortage of carbon dioxide and how this affects the chemical sector, live on the BBC radio show 'Your Call', as part of the 5 Live Breakfast radio show. You can listen via the link below, from 17.04-27.03 minutes. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.globalplayer.com/catchup/lbc/uk/b8FPjS1/ |
| Description | Book launch event, NEC conference hall |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Centre ECR, Mohamed Islam recently had two books published. Mohamed attended a book launch at the NEC in Birmingham on 25th August to raise international awareness and recognition for the UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy's research. Connections were made with senior Bangladesh government officials. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Business Model Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Workshop held jointly between WRAP UKPP working group and heriot-watt university research team to discuss circular chemicals manufacturing system. The discussions helped us to gather views from various stakeholders. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | CE Hotspot Catalonia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Centre Research Associate Melissa Marques participated in the CE Hotspot Catalonia in November 2021. The four-day event was attended by over 500 participants from around the globe. It was an opportunity to visit BASF and a water treatment company, listen from chemical recycling initiatives happening in the largest chemical park in Southern Europe, make connections, and represent the Centre to dozens of small and large firms, government representatives, and academics. The event was a great success, pushing the circle economy forward in Europe. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.cehotspot.cat/ |
| Description | COP26 EXPLAINER: How a circular economy in the chemical industry can help reach global carbon targets |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In a new Loughborough University video, our Centre Director, Professor Jin Xuan, an expert in low carbon processes and the Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering, discusses why countries must turn their focus towards this sector. Prof Jin Xuan outlined the Centre's vision and the Centre's importance. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.lboro.ac.uk/media-centre/press-releases/2021/november/circular-economy-cop-explainer-jin... |
| Description | Call For Participation: Barriers and opportunities in the implementation of chemical recycling |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | On 18th January 2022 CircularChem invited a cross section of individuals including policy makers, industry, third sector organisations, government agencies and academia to explore important questions and challenges facing the Chemical industry. Participants were required to be: Passionate about transforming the Chemical Industry Able to bring diverse perspectives, including those from outside of engineering Open and curious to collaborate with a network of peers from a cross-section of society The workshop was co-hosted with one of our project partners, WRAP, who look at the entire life cycle of products and services and help organisations to use resources more sustainably. Information collected during the workshop has been used to direct our Policy teams work with WRAP. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/events/call-for-participation-barriers-and-opportunities-in-the-im... |
| Description | Can you use CO2 to make products |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Extended interview with BBC Radio Coventry on the 'Vickipedia' daytime show. Discussed how a circular economy could be created by recycling waste carbon dioxide to produce sustainable polymers, fuels and construction materials. 24 February 2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Cardiff Catalysis Institute Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | We participate with posters and talks to the Cardiff Catalysis Institute annual conference. The topics presented are related to catalysts design, clean hydrogen and environment, biomass conversion as well as their implementation for a circular economy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018,2019,2020,2021 |
| Description | Cardiff Chemistry Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The School of Chemistry organises an open event every year to expose scientific progress in the field. We commonly present posters in the field of clean energy, sustainable environment and circular economy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018,2019,2020,2021 |
| Description | Circular Economy and Me Blog Series |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | The Circular Economy and Me Blog Series was created as an opportunity for our Centre's early career researchers to showcase their work and interests. Our Blog series is set on our Centre website and a new blog is shared in each of our e-newsletters which currently has over 250 subscribers. We aim to share the blogs with a diverse audience to increase awareness of our Centre and improve the understanding of our research, ambitions and achievements. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/category/circular-economy/ |
| Description | Collaborative discussion with European Metal Recycling (EMR) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | A meeting set up by Matthew Royle with Professor Elizabeth Gibson (Newcastle University) and Alex Thompson (EMR) to discuss potential collaboration. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | ECR Net Zero Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | CircularChem Centre members Dr Katie Lamb, Dr Matthew Royle, Dr Lei Xing, and Dr Swathi Mukundan attended the ECR Net Zero event in Manchester, as run by C-DICE, CO2RE, CREDS, ERA, EnergyREV, IDRIC, TFI Network+ and UKERC. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://ukccsrc.ac.uk/ecr-net-zero-conference-manchester-2022/ |
| Description | EU circular economy stakeholder platform annual conference 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Matthew Royle attended the EU circular economy stakeholder platform annual conference to understand the recent developments from the European committee and EU initiatives for the role of circular economy in driving sustainable recovery, open strategic autonomy and resource efficiency. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Edinburgh Science Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | As part of our engagement activities, our CircularChem team took part in the Edinburgh Science Festival on Saturday, 9th April 2022 in the National Museum of Scotland. The CircularChem team focused on converting waste materials such as plastics, industrial waste gas, food waste, or any other type of waste into chemical monomers, thereby reducing the reliance on fossil sources and creating a circular chemical economy. Associate Professor of Finance Bing Xu who leads Theme 3 said "The Edinburgh Science Festival offers a great platform for us to provide an insight to the children, and adults on how the linear chemical economy can be made circular in practice, to increase the attention and positive attitudes towards to sustainable products and recycling." While many won't think about it, most of us will interact with the chemical industry on a daily basis. The problem is that chemical sector is highly linear relies on a "take-make-use-dispose" model, in which 80% of chemicals are derived from fossil resources makes it the second-largest industrial emitter of carbon dioxide in the UK. Furthermore, the end chemical goods (e.g., plastics) often find their way into the environment after they have been used. The interactive activities used during the festival were designed to teach children and adults about the chemicals they are using and how we can reuse them. Our team gathered feedback throughout the festival to ascertain what the participants and children learnt and enjoyed. 110 participants engaged with the Centre's activities and this feedback was collated into a Report. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/news/edinburgh-science-festival/ |
| Description | Edinburgh Science Festival 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | As a part of Circular chemical economy centre, we set up stall in Edinburgh Science Festival for one day to show case our research and explain how chemical recycling works. This included how to convert CO2 using renewable energies into valuable products researched by LifesCO2R projects. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Faraday Discussion on CDU |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | CO2Chem hosted the 2021 Faraday Discussion on CDU that was held online as a virtual event in April 2021. The event was so successful that we were invited by the Royal Society of Chemistry to host a further event in 2026. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.rsc.org/events/detail/40002/carbon-dioxide-utilisation-faraday-discussion |
| Description | Future of the chemical industry: An ED&I perspective |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | CircularChem hosted an online roundtable discussion on 26th January 2023 which discussed the role of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the sustainable transition of the chemical industry. The session was chaired by Prof Raffaella Ocone OBE FREng from Heriot-Watt University. Panel members included Dr Sheena Hindocha, KTN Knowledge Transfer Manager. Dr Ifeyinwa Kanu CEO of IntelliDigest & Paul Sheerin Chief Executive at Scottish Engineering. The webinar was well attended and has then been distributed to a wider audience through the Centre's social media channels & website. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-7TkiX63ac |
| Description | GEFI Path to COP26 Stakeholder Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI) is committed to making the finance sector work for COP26, and COP26 work for finance. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.pathtocop26.com/ |
| Description | Gladstone Primary School Visit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Centre ECR, Mazharul Islam is a STEM ambassador and visited Gladstone Primary School in Cardiff to teach students and teachers about chemicals and waste managements. Mazharul conducted an activity involving different chemical potions with the Year 5 pupils, helping them with the measurements of pH, and teaching them the consequences of plastic wastes. Mazharul has plans to visit other schools following the success of this visit. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | HWU Workshop on Accelerating Circular Chemical Manufacturing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Five external speakers shared their unique journey in chemical circular economy, we had ~40 participants joined either online or in person. We had fruitful discussions around the barriers & enablers for accelerating CE, also provide valuable data for model development, intriguing discussion on the difficulties in investing circular economy projects. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/CircularChem/status/1588194451876466688?s=20 |
| Description | Heriot-Watt University Open Day Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Potential students and their parents attended for a open day visit to the Heriot-Watt University, we have prepared a short talk and interactive survey, which sparked questions and discussion afterwards. We received postive feedback from them with increased interest and knowledge around chemical products. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/BingXu_HWU/status/1533801439939772417?s=20 |
| Description | Heriot-Watt University Research Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Heriot-Watt academics discuss their high-profile, high-impact research and their search for answers to combat real-world issues. 30 researches attended for our sesseion, which sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/services/research-futures/heriot-watt-festival-of-research.htm |
| Description | IDRIC Interview |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Centre ECR, Dr katie Lamb was interviewed by IDRIC in November 2022, regarding her role within the Centre and her thoughts in the area of net zero. Materials created as a result of the interview will be shared widely. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | IchemE Webinar: Engineering to Enable a Circular Chemical Economy - COP26 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | On 25th October Imeche ran an online webinar Engineering to Enable a Circular Chemical Economy - COP26. In this talk, Our Centre director Professor Jin Xuan outlined his vision with a focus on the role of engineering in tackling the challenges in the development of the circular chemical economy and, discussed why we need a whole system approach and an interdisciplinary effort to address the challenge. Professor Xuan also showed how a research-informed teaching approach is used to develop a new module on circular economy for undergraduate chemical engineering students at Loughborough University. This webinar was aimed at industry and academic (both research and teaching) interested in COP26, sustainability, net zero, circular economy and related topics in the chemical engineering community. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.icheme.org/membership/communities/special-interest-groups/education/events/25-10-21-engi... |
| Description | Industry Chemistry Engagement Event Presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | On 23rd September our Theme 1 lead Prof Alex Cowan presented on our Centre's research at an Industry Chemistry Engagement Event. This presentation widened recognition of UK CircularChem research centre and was a great networking opportunity. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Industry workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Our first Industry workshop was held on 16 March 2021, with 44 attendees across 36 organisations. As well as presentations from Centre investigators and from partners, we discussed ideas for collaboration, what they want from the centre, potential case studies and suggestions for further meetings. A summary of the discussion was published in The Chemical Engineer. We had very positive response from participants and made new industry contacts. The workshop initiated a collaboration with NEPIC and Centre investigators on non-ethanol-based routes to Ethylene Oxide, a case study for Themes 2 and 3. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Insights on Innovation Article - The Future Of Carbon Dioxide |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Centre Co-I, Professor Alex Cowan has published an article in CPI's 'Insights on Innovation' discussing his work within the UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy. The article focusses on how carbon capture and reuse can support net-zero manufacturing and a circular economy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.uk-cpi.com/blog/the-future-of-carbon-dioxide |
| Description | Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy Launch Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The UKRI National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research (NICER) Programme formally launched on Thursday 27 May 2021. The four day event between 24th - 27th May introduced the five National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centres and the Circular Economy Hub (CE-Hub) which together form the NICER Programme The National Centre for Circular Chemical Economy hosted it's launch event on the 25th of May. Sir Richard Catlow, inaugurated the event by giving a keynote speech on 'Science to enable Circular Economy' which was followed by an engaging roundtable discussion on 'Circular Economy and Net Zero' hosted by the Dr Sheena Hindocha from the Knowledge Transfer Network. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDcuqbTPUGw |
| Description | Junior girls school visit in Nottingham |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | On 9th June Professor Eileen Yu & Centre ECR Lei Xing attended an outreach event at a junior girls school in Nottingham, to discuss plastics and chemicals. They demonstrated the concept of circular chemical economy focusing on plastics to 40 students and teachers. The learning and feedback received from the event was positive. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | KTN's Carbon Capture and Utilisation for Chemicals challenge Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | On 30th June 9:30-12:30, Professor Jin Xuan our Centre PI was invited by the KTN for an online scoping meeting focusing on the Carbon Capture and Utilisation for Chemicals challenge. For the initial scoping consultation meeting, the KTN brought together a select group from within the chemicals sector of leading innovators, academics, and industrial representatives to inform of current challenges and to frame an initial draft Action Plan. There will then be a follow up where they would invite the wider community and supply chain to engage with this Plan to verify it, add further detail and help ensure it delivers a clear message around how to accelerate innovation in this important area. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Knowledge Centre for Materials Chemistry presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | On 20th July our Theme 1 lead Prof Alex Cowan presented on our Centre at an event for the Knowledge Centre for Materials Chemistry. This presentation widened recognition of the CircularChem research Centre and was a good networking opportunity. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Knowledge Exchange Forum |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The UKRI Circular Chem Centre hosted a Knowledge Exchange Forum on the 14th of December 2021. The Forum provided a networking opportunity, and was a platform for the Center's Early Career Researchers to present their work. We extended invites to all Centre members and our industrial partners/contacts. The forum included three presentations from our Early Career Researchers on each Centre Research Theme. There was also a presentation from Chris Holt, Innovation Manager at NEPIC. Internally, we hosted an equality, diversity and inclusion workshop 'Neurodiversity in Higher Education' exclusively for our Early Career Researchers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Loughborough University AACME Annual Research Day Conference 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Dr Preetam Sharma (Centre research associate) participated and chaired sessions within the Net-zero carbon theme at the Annual Research Day Conference 2021, held at Loughborough University. This was a much anticipated event as it was held in-person for the first time in two years and had more than 150 attendees throughout the day. The UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy featured in the keynote presentation as a research highlight. Circular Economy was one of the themes of the event with several student presentations aligned with circularity and CircularChem. Ms Onyi Okoligwe, one of the Centre's doctoral student, presented her results on the conversion of municipal waste to bio-oil and biogas During Net Zero Carbon - Fuels and Aerodynamics session. There were several interesting sessions, including Net Zero Carbon - Manufacturing The future session, where discussions were based on development of materials for improving the efficiency and lifetime of coal and nuclear power plants. Net Zero Carbon Future - Jet Engine Advances focused on improving the design of the jet engines to make the air-travel more sustainable. There were also panel discussions on electrochemistry, focused on direct ethanol fuel cell, formic acid fuel cell and solid oxide fuel cells. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/aacme-research-day/ |
| Description | Mazharul M Islam conferences |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Energy, Climate Change and Sustainable Development" held on 11-12 Feb 2022 at the Stamford University Campus, Dhaka, Bangladesh - Green Energy Development in the Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Lessons from the Developed World - STEM Education for Raising Awareness in Green Energy Generation and Remediation of Environmental Pollution Gladstone Primary School, Cathays, Cardiff; Students and teachers have learnt about Chemistry and Chemicals, about waste managements. Science Festival to be held in Newton, Wales in September 2022. International Conference Organization; Website: "https://ben-global.net/conference-announcement-2022-2/" |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Meeting to understand Chemical Intelligence business & alignment to the centre |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Meeting arranged by Rose Bunker, between Elizabeth Gibson (Newcastle University), Matthew Royle (Newcastle University), Tim Blackburn (Newcastle University) and Mark Wilkinson (Chemical Intelligence) to discuss potential alignment of Chemical Intelligence' work with the centre. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Meeting with CE hub to discuss roadmap collaboration |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Meeting arranged by Katie Lamb, connecting the roadmapping exercise of Matthew Royle with the CE-Hub wider framework undertaken by Halid Abu-Bakar. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Meeting with NEPIC for potential collaboration |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Met with Chris Holt and Abigail Bell to discuss the roadmapping for the centre and the current roadmapping work undertaken by NEPIC. Abigail has agreed to meet at a later date to share knowledge and determine if our work can be aligned to one another. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Modelling the Circular Economy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | On 24th October 2022, CircularChem hosted a webinar chaired by Dr Alberto Roldan Martinez, senior lecturer of Computational Chemistry and Catalysis at the School of Chemistry at Cardiff University. Dr Roldan Martinez introduced multi-scale simulation techniques of importance to predict, validate and implement the various aspects of the Circular Economy of chemicals. The webinar was attended by a wide audience from academia and industry and was an opportunity to showcase some of the Centre's research. Webinar Background: In a world pressured by increasing demands of energy and commodities, implementing a Circular Economy plays an essential role in developing a sustainable and competitive manufacturing industry and energy sector. Industrial hubs without waste are a requirement to achieve Net Zero commitments, and simulations provide essential information to succeed in their design and accelerate their implementation. Obtaining, curating and utilising digital data forms the core of the fourth industrial revolution as recognised at the highest inter-governmental levels. In this webinar, we will explore the different levels of simulation with a particular focus on data procurement. Alberto Roldan's research interest is understanding dynamic catalyst processes, especially those relevant to Sustainable Energy, Environment Remediation, and Circular Economy. His research is based on computer simulations at the nanoscale, linking materials' composition and atomic structure to the properties and reactivity and their implementation in kinetic systems closing the gap between simulation and experiments for an intelligent design of materials and catalysts. He has authored over 100 publications. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA2OpCRmr8M |
| Description | NEPIC Plastic Recycling Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Our Centre engagement Lead, Dr Libby Gibson (Newcastle University), PhD student Ben Lyons (Imperial College London) and Justina Heslop (Newcastle University) attended the NEPIC Plastic Recycling Workshop on 24th November 2021 held at NEPIC HQ in Teesside. It was great to come together to discuss the plastics recycling landscape, the challenges and opportunities companies face, and the regional development steps going forward. Ahmet Onur Agca, Innovation Manager at NEPIC delivered the first presentation showcasing the research NEPIC and Durham University have conducted across the plastics recycling community on Teesside. His presentation on Supply Chain Integration in the Plastic Recycling Industry, done in association with Durham University Business School aimed to strengthen the capabilities of the plastics recycling sector in the North East region by developing a supply chain integration framework. This was a timely presentation which aligns with future road mapping work the UKRI Centre for Circular Chemical Economy will be undertaking. The meeting provided a good opportunity to network with industry and academia and strengthened our links with NEPIC and industry in the Teesside cluster. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.nepic.co.uk/blog/memberposts/nepic-showcases-research-at-plastics-recycling-supply-chain... |
| Description | NICER Programme Webinar Series: Circular Business Models |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A key outcome and impact of the NICER programme is to increase the "Direct application and implementation of CE practices, business models, technologies and solutions leading to resource productivity + GVA improvements. In this 3rd NICER programme webinar series invited speakers from the CE-hub and individual Centres will share their perspectives on what we mean by the term business model, some business model taxonomy, state of evidence on how and why CE BMs succeed or fail and some of the key research challenges related to design and implementation. This will be followed by a discussion and Q and A. The event will be followed up by a short position paper which will form the basis for feedback and further ideas for cross programme activities to promote CE Business models. I have discussed our business case studies which attracted questions during the panel disussions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/circular-business-models-nicer-programme-webinar-registration-1685950... |
| Description | Newtown Science Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The CircularChem team participated at the Newtown Science Festival on 17th September 2022. The team had three stalls at the event which were fun and interactive for all ages. The UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy, are focusing on converting the waste materials such as plastics, industrial waste gas, food waste, or any other type of waste into chemical monomers, thereby reducing the reliance on fossil sources and creating a circular chemical economy. Our stall therefore offered educational experiments for all ages and explored the following: What are chemicals? Where do they come from? Why are they important? Fate, hazards & disposal of chemicals. Waste managements (Plastic and Bio wastes) The interactive activities used during the festival were designed to teach children and adults about the chemicals they are using and how we can reuse them. Our team gathered feedback throughout the festival to ascertain what the participants and children learnt and enjoyed. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/events/newton-science-festival/ |
| Description | Nottingham Girl's high school Green Day 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | This event was for Green Day in a local girl school. The audience was year 4 and year 5 girls. We presented what is Circular economy and chemical recycle to the girls. Also provided them interactive games using Lego pieces to understand how Chemical recycling works, including how to convert CO2 to useful products, as well as classify different categories of plastics. The girls and teachers were very enthusiastic about the contents and joined the interaction games actively. They also learned many new things. There were many questions asked. The school also asked to get more information sheet and handout for the students. The school reported great feedback from the girls and increased their interest in STEM. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Panelist at GRIPS 2022 "Finding the future of Plastics and Polymers" event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Centre ECR, Dr Katie Lamb was invited to sit on a virtual panel with representatives from Unilever and others on Plastic Chemical Recycling, titled "Chemical Recycling: Making it Work" as part of the GRIPS 2022 "Finding the future of Plastics and Polymers" event. Katie was asked to contribute in terms of general policy and policy thinking, and the barriers to chemical recycling in policy etc. 176 people logged in to watch the presentation and panel discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Participated in "NICER Programme Summer School Show Reel - July 2021" short video |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Took part in a short video discussing the outputs of the NICER Programme Summer School event in July 2021, as well as the other research aims of the CircularChem Centre |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TswK8tlk6U |
| Description | Participated in the "The Carbon Recycling Network" policy roundtable discussions |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Professor Peter Styring and Dr Katie Lamb were invited to participate in "The Carbon Recycling Network Policy Roundtable Discussions: Understanding and enabling the potential of Biological Systems for Carbon Dioxide Utilisation" on 19th July 2022, as run by Dr Joanna Sparks online, a Biomass Policy Fellow with the Supergen Bioenergy Hub, The Carbon Recycling Network, The Biomass Biorefinery Network, and The High Value Biorenewables Network. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | PhD training events, Royce Institute, Manchester |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | On 13th August and 14th September Prof Alex Cowan presented on the CircularChem Centre at Workshops on sustainable fuels. The purpose of the events was for knowledge transfer to PhD students as part of professional development for their future careers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Policy Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | 60 participants attended an online workshop on the Circular Chemical Economy. There were a number of keynote presentations at the event which was co-hosted by WRAP, followed by a number of breakout sessions with reporting back to the audience. A policy document is being developed based on the outcomes of the event. The event was described as 'inspirational' by external attendees. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presentation at ChemUK 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | On 11th May 2022, Dr Jonathan Wagner our Centre's Academic Programme Lead led a session at ChemUK 2022 "Circular economy - balancing conventional chemistry and the switch to bioresources". The event was part of a Knowledge Transfer Network (Innovate UK KTN) led session. The session was very well attended and received good questions from the audiences. It was hosted by Amy Peace and also featured Sarah Davidson from Croda and Dr Caterhine Julia Mort from KTN. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presentation at Knowledge Transfer Network (Innovate UK KTN) Event "CE|IN - CCU to Chemicals" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | This event was part of a Knowledge Transfer Network (Innovate UK KTN) led Consultation Meeting on "CE|IN - CCU to Chemicals". Centre ECR, Dr Katie Lamb and Policy Lead, Prof Peter Styring were invited to present and take part in the future Community Action Plan meeting ran by KTN. These meetings occurred on 8th and 16th November, 2022 where Katie read and submitted feedback on their planned action plan. Further meetings are planned and the Centre will be asked to input into deliverables as a result of this planned action plan. Future/further outputs are still to be determined. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Prospects for the Circular Chemical Economy Post- COP26 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | In the first of our CircularChem seminar series we hosted 'Prospects for the Circular Chemical Economy Post- COP26' where experts on policy, industry and academia met to discuss pathways to circular economy. This in person event was hosted on 6th May by Prof Peter Styring from University of Sheffield with keynote speeches by Olivia Blake MP, Unilever VP Jon Hague, and Peter Styring, followed by a panel discussion. The event was held in Central Sheffield and was followed by a short networking session. Event Details: The UK has ambitions to achieve Net Zero by 2050 in an attempt to mitigate against climate change. While emissions reduction is a key strategy within a portfolio of interventions. The move from a linear (extract-use-dispose) approach to the economy of things needs to move to a circular (reduce-recycle-reuse) economy that removes new fossil carbon from entering the supply chain. In this symposium, industry, academia and policy makers will discuss ways we can achieve this in the short-term to give the environment a chance to recover in the medium and long-term. The information gathered at this event helped to develop further meetings and contributed to the following research publication: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenrg.2022.1079010/full |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/events/prospects-for-the-circular-chemical-economy-post-cop26/ |
| Description | RSC discussion meeting presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | On 30th November, Prof Alex Cowan our Centre's Theme 1 lead was an invited speaker on Circular Chemistry; the enabler to help solve global challenges. This was a great networking and collaboration opportunity for the Centre and a future activity planning is underway with the RSC and CircularChem. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Reflections on COP26 Policy Paper |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Policy Briefing document has been written and is in the final stages of proofing before release. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Research demonstration for University open days |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Since 2022, I participated university open days and demonstrated our research in my lab using video and showing the CO2 reduction reactions to the students and parents. It was surprised to see even though people were aware of the global challenges, the general public still not aware of many concepts and technologies available. It is very important to have more sustainability education in the schools and university. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| Description | SME Engagement Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | An SME-focused Workshop was held on 8 September 2021, timed to align with launch of Innovate UK competition. We had attendance from Innovate UK (Amy Peace) to provide context to the call. The aim was to engage with SMEs and co-create collaborative research proposals for Innovate UK funding calls and possible Knowledge Transfer Partnerships. A Pre-workshop-questionnaire was completed so that we could shape the event and survey views/knowledge of chemical recycling. The organisers had a number of meetings with Arrow (business support initiative at Newcastle University) to scope out potential SME engagement opportunities. This helped connect us with several partners prior to the 2021 Innovate UK call, notably Wastefront who we have established a legal agreement to collaborate on developing their technology. Following the meeting, 53 SMEs contacted us, which were followed up individually and those projects which aligned with the Centre's mission were submitted with letters of support from the Centre PI. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://circularchemsmeworkshop.meeting-mojo.com/ |
| Description | STEM ambassador - Mazharul M Islam School Visit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Centre research associate Mazharul M Islam visited a primary school as a STEM ambassador on 9th Feb 2022. He conducted a Potions activity among year 5 pupils and helped them to measure pH. He also taught them the consequences of plastic wastes. There were 25 pupils and two teachers present and the activity sparked lots of questions and discussions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Sino-UK Workshop on Biomass Conversion and Utilisation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Dr Swathi Mukundan a research associate from Loughborough University represented the UKRI circular economy centre and shared her research work at the 'Sino-UK Workshop on Biomass Conversion and Utilisation' held at Liverpool on Dec 10th and 11th 2021. This workshop was conducted as a part of Newton Fund Researcher Links that provides opportunities for early career researchers from the UK and China to exchange ideas and to develop potential research collaborations. The workshop was hosted by Prof. Xin Tu from the University of Liverpool jointly with Prof. Hanping Chen, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China. There were 20 early career researchers from the UK present at Liverpool and the workshop happened in a hybrid form with the participants from China joining online. There were more than 200 participants and 43 presentations covering topics on biomass and waste plastic valorisation routes for H2, chemicals, and biochar production. A panel discussion was organised to discuss international collaborations, post-workshop activities and career development for ECRs. After the workshop, a Linkedin networking page was created by the organiser to connect the participants from both the UK and China sides. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://ukchinabiomass.wordpress.com/media/ |
| Description | Stakeholder Interview on Sustainable Polymers in Liquid Formulations |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Participation in a stakeholder interview conducted for the Royal Society of Chemistry's PLF Taskforce. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Sustainability and circularity in research: A conversation with Prof. Jin Xuan |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Prof Jin Xuan met with Cell Press editors Dr. Michelle Muzzio (iScience) and Dr. Kristina Vrouwenvelder (Chem) to discuss the work of the UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy, working with more than 100 industrial partners to transform the UK £32bn chemical industry into a fossil-independent, climate-positive and environmentally friendly circular economy. Jin discussed his thoughts about sustainability in pharma and the importance of academic and industry collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahdTf0l_awM&list=RDCMUClSV2Tk7x-wBBXP6-VCNbNw&start_radio=1&rv=ahdTf... |
| Description | The Chemical Engineer Magazine Article - Towards a Circular Chemical Economy: Stakeholders' Perspectives |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | On 28th October 2021 an article was published in The Chemical Engineer highlighting the work and aims of the UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy. The article discusses some of the progress and changes which are being made to achieve net zero and create a more sustainable future. 'In such a complex system, collaboration between all stakeholders is key to effect the required change and co-create solutions that lead to truly sustainable circular ecosystems. However, decisions on the best way forward need to be taken sooner rather than later, the chemical industry does not have time on its side.' The article included business motivations to engage with the circular chemical economy and showcased the Centre's work and areas for collaboration. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.thechemicalengineer.com/features/towards-a-circular-chemical-economy-stakeholders-perspe... |
| Description | The Conversation Article 'How soon could carbon capture technology solve industry CO2 shortages?' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Professor Peter Styring our Policy Lead wrote an article for 'The Conversation' discussing carbon capture technology to prevent future shortages. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://theconversation.com/how-soon-could-carbon-capture-technology-solve-industry-co-shortages-168... |
| Description | The EPSRC Engineering Net Zero Showcase |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The EPSRC Engineering Net Zero Showcase took place between 21-23 June at the University of Glasgow's new building, the Advanced Research Centre. The event was an opportunity to bring researchers, industry leaders and policy makers together to reflect on and raise awareness of the EPSRC investments made in this space continue the conversations that took place at COP26. CircularChem had a stall at the Showcase where we were able to share our research study with WRAP on the key non-technical challenges to the implementation of non-mechanical recycling in the UK. The event was a great engagement and networking opportunity for our Centre to share our research and collaboration ideas. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/events/the-epsrc-engineering-net-zero-showcase/ |
| Description | The Engineer Article - Loughborough Leads Zero Carbon Loss Biomanufacturing Project |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | On 7th January Centre Director, Professor Jin Xuan contributed to an article in The Engineer. The article focussed on a Loughborough University-led project within the Centre which aims to develop a sustainable biomanufacturing system with integrated carbon capture and utilisation through a novel electrochemical approach. The project will take a whole system approach to tackle engineering problems as well as addressing wider economic, social and environmental challenges for sustainable evolution of bio-based industries. In addition to collaborating with academic partners from Imperial College and Heriot-Watt University, the project involves partners including the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN), BASF, the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) and Oxford University spin-out OxCCU. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.theengineer.co.uk/loughborough-leads-zero-carbon-loss-biomanufacturing-project/ |
| Description | The Greener Manufacturing Show Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | On 11th November, our Centre's Academic Programme Lead Dr Jonathan Wagner, was invited to host a panel discussion at the Greener Manufacturing Show in Cologne, Germany, exploring how to select optimal pathways for recovering value from chemical wastes. The panel included Carlos Monreal, the CEO and Founder of Plastic Energy, one of the world's leading chemical recycling companies, Babette Pettersen, VP Europe for LanzaTech, the global market leader for gas fermentation technologies and Dr Pieter Imhof, Senior Business Developer of Circular Economy & Environment at TNO, an independent Dutch research and technology development organisation. There was consensus that there is no single solution to address the complex problem of waste treatment and chemical value recovery. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/news/the-greener-manufacturing-show-conference/ |
| Description | The Guardian Article - From pollutant to product: the companies making stuff from CO2. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Professor Peter Styring our Centre Policy Lead recently contributed to this online article in The Guardian stressing the importance of making materials from carbon dioxide, and how the UK needs future funding and new policies to drive this change further. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/05/carbon-dioxide-co2-capture-utilisation-products-... |
| Description | The Telegraph Article 'Food shortages by end of week as CO2 crisis grows'. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Professor Peter Styring our Centre Policy Lead talked to about the shortage of carbon dioxide and carbon capture in an online article for the Daily Telegraph. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/09/20/food-shortages-end-week-co2-crisis-grows/ |
| Description | The decarbonisation and digitalisation of water and associated industries |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | CircularChem hosted a seminar with Prof Jason Ren from Princeton University on 11th August at Loughborough University. Prof Jason Ren is a member of our Centre's Strategic Advisory Board. The event was attended by a diverse audience of academia, industry and students sparking great networking and collaboration opportunities for the Centre. Event Background: Water underpins every aspect of life and economy, and the water industry is in the middle of a paradigm shift toward decarbonisation and digitalisation. The water sector has a unique carbon footprint and contribution to a circular economy, as it directly and indirectly influences the operation and GHG emissions of other sectors such as energy, agriculture, and chemical industries. In this talk, Jason will share some of the recent progress in recognising the roles and accomplishing the goals of water and wastewater in industry decarbonisation including waste carbon valorisation, carbon capture and utilisation, electrolysis using impaired water sources, as well as how to use data science tools to optimise water infrastructure management and decision making. Dr. Z. Jason Ren (@zjasonren) is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Associate Director for the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University. He leads the Princeton WET Lab (Water & Energy Technologies) with research focusing on water & wastewater sector decarbonisation and digitalisation. His group uses electrochemistry, microbiology, and data science tools to understand the fundamental determining factors and develops new technologies for resource recovery during environmental processes. Prof. Ren has received notable recognitions with the latest including the 2020 Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize from the American Society of Civil Engineers and the 2021 Paul L. Busch Award from the Water Research Foundation. He is a topic editor for Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) and ES&T Letters (ACS) and an Associate Editor for the ES:Water (RSC). Prof. Ren collaborates with colleagues from different disciplines. The group has been funded by federal and state agencies as well as private sponsors and published papers in Nature Sustainability, Nature Climate Change, Nature Energy, Science Advances, Joule, Energy & Environmental Science, Environmental Science & Technology, Water Research, and other leading journals. Prof. Ren co-founded 2 companies with students to translate research findings into real-world applications. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFYbdJFYQtE |
| Description | The system challenges of de-fossilising petrochemical industrial clusters |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | CircularChem hosted a webinar where Dr. Andrea Ramírez Ramírez, Professor of Low Carbon Systems and Technologies at the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, introduced key challenges at the system level as well as work we are currently conducting to model the potential resource, energy and costs impacts of de-fossilising multiple and interconnected value chains in a complex petrochemical cluster. This session was hosted by Dr Benoit Chachuat, Professor of Process Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London. Webinar Background: Ninety percent of raw materials used in the EU chemical industry are from fossil resources. A future industrial system that is independent of fossil resources will require the use of alternative raw materials, such as CO2 or biomass, for the production of chemical and materials. Industrial clusters are, however, complex systems with many and increasingly intertwined processes between and within firms. Interventions in any single process can affect other processes (possibly operated by other firms), both at the local scale of an industrial cluster and in the supply chains involved (which are geographically dispersed). Dr. Andrea Ramírez Ramírez's research focuses on the evaluation of novel low carbon technologies and the design of methodologies and tools to assess their potential contribution to sustainable industrial systems. She has (co-) authored over 115 publications and is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control. The webinar sparked interesting discussions and collaboration opportunities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltG1zppaW2I |
| Description | UK Chemical Stakeholder Forum (UKCSF) Sub-Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | UKCSF enables discussion between stakeholders, government and regulators in support of effective chemicals and waste management. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | UK-Brazil Newton Fund Researcher Links Workshop on Sustainable Chemical Approaches for CO2 Reduction |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Prof Peter Styring (University of Sheffield), Dr Preetam Sharma (Loughborough University), and Dr Bhavin Siritanaratkul (University of Liverpool) participated in a Newton fund Researcher Links Workshop on Sustainable Chemical Approaches for CO2 Reduction. The workshop was hosted at Leeds University between 14th-16th Dec 2021 by Prof Nora H. de Leeuw and Dr David Santos-Carballal. Originally intended as an on-site workshop in Brazil to promote collaborations, the workshop was held in a hybrid manner due to uncertainties of travel amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. The UK participants, around 20 early career researchers, gathered in Leeds and were linked online to the participants in Brazil. Prof Styring (Centre Co-I) delivered a keynote talk on the big-picture view of CO2 utilization, and the necessity of Techno-Economic Analysis and Life-Cycle Assessments in evaluating potential technologies. He also emphasised the need of fiscal interventions and whole-system approach for the accelerated development and commercialisation of the field. Dr Siritanaratkul (Centre Research Associate) presented work on an enzyme cascade for CO2 reduction, coupled to electrochemical cofactor regeneration, which was conducted during his DPhil with Prof Fraser A. Armstrong. Dr Sharma (Centre Research Associate) presented his ongoing work on electrochemical CO2 reduction to generate multi-carbon production using nanoengineered Cu cathodes. The work is being performed under the UKRI Centre for Circular Chemical Economy with Prof Eileen Yu (Centre Co-I). There was a focus on career development, funding opportunities and international collaborations for the early career researchers. Overall, the workshop provided a fantastic opportunity to network with several researchers in UK and Brazil who are working on (photo)electrochemical CO2 utilisation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/news/sustainable-chemical-approaches-for-co2-reduction/ |
| Description | UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy Animation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We worked with 'Science Animation' to create an animation which introduces our Centre and outlines the importance of the research we are doing. The animation was created with the general public in mind so that it can be understood by a wide audience. The animation has been shared on our many social media channels and is embedded onto our website, it has received very positive feedback from a variety of different audiences. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=118zzkiIi-U |
| Description | UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy Newsletters |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | We create content and share quarterly Centre e-newsletters with all of our industrial contacts and our vast Centre network. We currently have over 265 subscribers with diverse backgrounds which we keep updated with upcoming events, research progress and engagement opportunities. We also use our newsletter to advertise events for our NICER partnering Centre's and industrial partners. We have a newsletter subscription button on our Centre website which has been successful in reaching a wider audience. We have received expressions of interest for events and have seen positive engagement with our externally facing newsletters. We also regularly send out internal newsletters to keep our team members across the seven institutions up to date with our progress and activities. We have found this is a useful method of communication and promotes cross theme collaborations and networking within the Centre. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| Description | UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy Social Media Channels |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | We have created a Centre Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube channel. These social media platforms have been great networking tools and have allowed us to reach a wide and diverse audience. We use these platforms to advertise Centre recruitment, events and share our research. We also use the platforms to share other Centre's events and achievements. https://twitter.com/CircularChem?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor https://www.linkedin.com/company/ukri-circularchem |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUzWLM73Uz2Rbn6jXxVKwdA |
| Description | UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy Summer School |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | CircularChem hosted a summer school 6th-8th September 2022 at Newcastle University. The event was an opportunity to showcase our Centre's research and network with guest speakers and host diverse panel discussions. We had a large attendance from industry which meant the event was a great success and created an opportunity for new partnerships to form. Discussions on potential funding opportunities took place. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/events/ukri-interdisciplinary-centre-for-circular-chemical-economy... |
| Description | UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy Website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | We have launched the UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy Website. This platform contains detailed information on our research themes, who we currently work with and our vision. We also have profiles for all of our Centre team including our Strategic Advisory Board members. We use the website to advertise upcoming events and share relevant news from our Centre and Centre partners. We have also created a blog series called 'Circular Economy and Me' which features on our website. When receiving interest from SME's for the recent IUK funding call it was useful to have information on our research themes easily accessible on our website to help with proposals. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/ |
| Description | UKRI Mission Focussed Research - Communication Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Participation in EPSRC led virtual workshop on 'UKRI Mission Focussed Research - Communication workshop' |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Visiting Scottish Water |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | We have visited Scottish Water Bon'ess site in Nov 2022, and had interesting discussions around what is getting their way to circular economy and net zero. The visit has enhanced interests for future collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Visiting delegation from CSIRO (Australia), Royce Institute, Manchester |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | On 5th October Prof Alex Cowan our Centre's Theme 1 lead presented on the CircularChem Centre's research to visiting delegation from CSIRO (Australia). This networking opportunity widened international recognition of the CircularChem Centre. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Welsh Government briefing: CO2 circular economy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A group of 8 cross-disciplinary academics met and discuss with Malcolm Davies at Welsh Government regarding strategies to establish a sustainable circular economy and waste management in the Welsh region. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Workshop on Role of Chemistry in sustainable composites |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Participation in workshop led by National Composites Centre (NCC) to explore the role of chemistry in sustainable composites. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |