UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Surrey
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.
Publications
Agrawal K
(2022)
Hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol over orthorhombic molybdenum carbide: a DFT and microkinetic study
in Catalysis Science & Technology
Baaqel HA
(2023)
Global Sensitivity Analysis in Life-Cycle Assessment of Early-Stage Technology using Detailed Process Simulation: Application to Dialkylimidazolium Ionic Liquid Production.
in ACS sustainable chemistry & engineering
Banerji L
(2024)
Studying the cation dependence of CO2 reduction intermediates at Cu by in-situ VSFG spectroscopy
in Chemical Science
Bernardi A
(2023)
33rd European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering
Eagle C
(2023)
A manganese complex on a gas diffusion electrode for selective CO 2 to CO reduction
in Sustainable Energy & Fuels
Fisher O
(2024)
Responsive CO 2 capture: predictive multi-objective optimisation for managing intermittent flue gas and renewable energy supply
in Reaction Chemistry & Engineering
Galdeano-Ruano C
(2024)
Developing and understanding Leaching-Resistant cobalt nanoparticles via N/P incorporation for liquid phase hydroformylation
in Journal of Catalysis
Gibson E
(2024)
Light-Driven and Electrochemical CO 2 Reduction
in ACS Applied Energy Materials
Greenwell F
(2023)
Pulsed Electrolysis with a Nickel Molecular Catalyst Improves Selectivity for Carbon Dioxide Reduction.
in Journal of the American Chemical Society
Hamerton I
(2024)
Introduction to sustainable composites
in RSC Sustainability
| 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. |
| Sector | Chemicals |
| Impact Types | Societal Economic Policy & public services |
| Description | Circular Economy Strategy for Northern Ireland - online consultation |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/consultations/circular-economy-strategy-northern-ireland |
| Description | Contribution to policy paper from RS on green chemicals industry |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | HMG research into potential benefits from resource efficiency in the chemicals sector |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Description | Innovation action plan to transform industrial waste gases to chemicals, Circular Economy Innovation Network. |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://iuk.ktn-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/An-action-plan-to-Net-Zero-Report-2023-v2.pdf?fbcl... |
| Description | Just Transition to Net Zero Wales - online consultation |
| 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 | Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee's call for evidence on the Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill (2023) |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/legislation/bills/s6-bills/circular-economy-scotland-bill/... |
| Description | Resources and Waste provisional Common Framework, an inquiry launched by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee within the UK Parliament |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | https://committees.parliament.uk/work/7401/resources-and-waste-provisional-common-framework/#:~:text... |
| Description | ICURE - discover |
| Amount | £3,700 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2023 |
| End | 03/2024 |
| Description | Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC) - Flexible fund |
| Amount | £98,321 (GBP) |
| Organisation | United Kingdom Research and Innovation |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2023 |
| End | 02/2024 |
| Description | Partnership innovation fund - Sustainable ethylene production: a joint Uol - lneos pilot study of decarbonisation technology |
| Amount | £40,350 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Liverpool |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 12/2022 |
| End | 04/2023 |
| Description | Policy seedcorn funding |
| Amount | £14,490 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Loughborough University |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2022 |
| End | 07/2022 |
| Description | C-capture Liverpool partnership on CO2 utilisaiton |
| Organisation | C-Capture Ltd. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | We are carrying out catalysis studies on the gases provided by c-capture |
| Collaborator Contribution | c-capture have modified carbon capture test rigs at Drax power station and at NSG-pilkington to enable compression and storage of CO2 in cylinders that are trasport to the research team at the University of Liverpool. |
| Impact | We are testing captured carbon dioxide provided by c-capture from industrial sites (e.g. Drax, Pilkington float line) to explore the compatibility of our carbon dioxide utilisation technologies discovered with the capture technology of c-capture |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Collaboration with NSG on CO2 electrolysis |
| Organisation | Pilkington Glass |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Reserach from UKRI projects has been used by a joint funded (University of Liverpool - Pilkington) PhD student who is studying the feasibility of CO2 utilisation for the glass industry. Multiple projects have supported this partnership which was initialised based on the UKRI funded fellowship extension (2019 EP/P034497/1) and we have continued to partner on activities of EP/V011863/1, EP/V011863/2, EP/W038021/1, EP/W033283/1 |
| Collaborator Contribution | They have partnered on a number of UKRI projects in this field (See above for codes). For all they have provided expertise and data on industrial gas sources. Financial contributions include a part funded PhD student relating to our wider joint interest on CO2 activity (2020-2024) and a new studentship funded for 2024 - 2028 |
| Impact | PhD studentships (see above) new funded project exploring higher TRL activity with consortium of Net-Zero NW, NSG-pilkington, c-capture, University of Liverpool on carbon capture and utilisation with industry gases. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Joint activity with INEOS technologies |
| Organisation | INEOS |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Building on outputs from EP/W038021/1 and EP/V011863/2 & EP/V011863/1 we have carried out a proof of principle study with INEOS as a partner on routes for CO2 to ethylene (key INEOS product). We have also provided technical expertise in discussions for the companies team to assess the state of the art. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partner has provided expertise and knowledge of electrolyser testing and contributed to project meetings. |
| Impact | The project led to the generation of a technical assessment of the state-of-the-art for CO2 to ethylene by electrolysis which is to be shared internally. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| 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 Transition to Circular Economy: Overcoming the Barriers |
| 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 researchers Prof. Umit Bititci, Prof Bing Xu, Dr. Melissa Marques & Dr Matthew Royle presented at this Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC) workshop. The workshop took place on Friday 28 April 2023 at Panmure House, Edinburgh. The workshop was organised as part of the IDRIC seminar series which aims to accelerate decarbonisation of our economy and had 40 attendees. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/events/accelerating-transition-to-circular-economy-overcoming-the-... |
| Description | Circular Chemical Economy Summer School 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 | CircularChem hosted a Summer School 5th-7th September 2023 at Newcastle University. 79 attendees were present with a variety of speakers from academia, industry and policy backgrounds. As part of the summer school, we ran a workshop for Early Career Researchers to provide training and advice on grant proposal and CV writing, |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/events/ukri-interdisciplinary-centre-for-circular-chemical-economy... |
| Description | CircularChem LinkedIn |
| 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 | With over 730 followers the Centre's LinkedIn page is used to engage with a variety of audiences and update them on the most significant research updates, events, funding opportunities and news regarding our Centre. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022,2023 |
| Description | CircularChem Newsletter |
| 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 | CircularChem has over 380 newsletter subscribers. The newsletter is used to share the Centre's latest research updates, awards, events and funding/engagement opportunities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022,2023 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/news/circularchem-newsletters/ |
| Description | CircularChem 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 | CircularChem hosted its annual research showcase at Loughborough University between 27 - 29th March 2023. The event was designed to enable closer collaboration between chemicals research and innovation, industry and government bodies. There were speakers from academia who shared the latest insights in building circular economies to increase the UK's chemicals and materials supply security and to ultimately become a green manufacturer and exporter. There were also speakers from businesses who have been implementing circular economy principles and industry members who are driving fundamental change for the UK to achieve its Net Zero goals. On day 3 of the Showcase we had policy makers provide an insight into the evolving policy landscape facing the chemical industry. There were 96 people in attendance across the three day event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/events/circularchem-showcase/ |
| Description | CircularChem Twitter |
| 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 | With over 455 followers the Centre's Twitter page is used to engage with a variety of audiences and update them on the most significant research updates, events, funding opportunities and news regarding our Centre. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022,2023 |
| Description | CircularChem Webinar: Replacing Fossil Feedstocks |
| 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 | On the 7th December 12.00-13.00 CircularChem hosted a lunchtime webinar discussing the work being undertaken to replace fossil feedstocks for chemical production. Our speakers Prof Jeremy Shears (Shell), Dr Darren Budd (BASF), and Dr Bhavin Siritanaratkul (CircularChem) gave their insights on progress made towards a more sustainable resource flow of chemicals and the impact it can have on our journey to Net Zero. This webinar explored the role renewable chemical feedstocks has on delivering against the UK's science and technology net zero ambitions. The speakers also discussed the challenges we face transitioning to renewable feedstocks and how enabling technologies can assist the transition. 43 people attended the webinar and engaged with the discussions from diverse backgrounds. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/events/webinar-replacing-fossil-feedstocks/ |
| Description | CircularChem Website & YouTube Channel |
| 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 | The Centre's website and YouTube channel is used to engage with a variety of audiences and update them on the most significant research updates, events, funding opportunities and news regarding our Centre. The Centre includes a researcher spotlight and 'Circular Economy and me' Blog series. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022,2023 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/ |
| Description | Dr Katie Lamb - 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 | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Dr Katie Lamb was interviewed by Kyle Herman from IDRIC. Katie was asked many questions regarding her role in the Centre and Katie's thoughts in the area of Net Zero. Kyle reported that papers were being written up with contributions from Katie and others from their interviews. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Dr Katie Lamb Interview with CE Hub |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Centre research associate, Dr Katie Lamb was interviewed by Ryan Nolan at CE-HUB to discuss Katie's cross-cutting work and her experiences within the Centre. Katie's interview will be used to contribute towards a CE Hub study and paper. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Financing a Circular Chemical Economy Policy Paper Workshop 1 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | On 1st February 2024, the University of Sheffield based Policy team hosted its first Financing a Circular Chemical Economy Policy Paper Workshop. The workshop was an invite only workshop with predominantly Industry and Academia invitees. This workshop focused on the positives and challenges with current policies. There were discussions on the technologies needed to create a sustainable circular economy and the financial requirements to implement changes. This workshop is part of a series of workshops which the Policy team will be running. The second workshop will be held on 22nd February 2024 with academia, industry, finance, and legal invitees. The third in person workshop will include invitees from academia, industry and policymakers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Financing a Circular Chemical Economy Policy Paper Workshop 2 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | On 22nd February 2024, the University of Sheffield based Policy team hosted its second Financing a Circular Chemical Economy Policy Paper Workshop. The workshop was an invite only workshop with academia, industry, finance, and legal invitees. This workshop focused on the financial, legal and fiscal requirements of policy development. This workshop is part of a series of workshops which the Policy team are running. The third in person workshop will include invitees from academia, industry and policymakers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Green carbon for the chemical industry of the future |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | The Royal Society organised a Scientific Discussion meeting which took place 11th-12th December at The Royal Society, London with multiple Centre researchers in attendance. The RSC are developing a policy report project on 'Green carbon for the chemical industry'. This working group is led by Professor Graham Hutchings FRS with contributions from Centre members Sir Richard Catlow FRS and Prof Matthew Rosseinsky. Prof Jin Xuan and Dr Jonathan Wagner also attended a workshop that included stakeholders from across academia, industry and policy to discuss alternative feedstocks for chemicals production on 15th November. These discussions will feed into the report, which is due to be published in spring 2024. Collaborating with The Royal Society has been a great experience and we look forward to the publication. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/events/green-carbon-for-the-chemical-industry-of-the-future/ |
| Description | IDRIC Workshops |
| 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 programme IDRIC has a series of workshops focusing on green finance. Centre member, Prof Bing Xu has attended these workshops to make connections with industries and policymakers. There was an IDRIC workshop about Circular Economy on the 28th of April with Centre representatives Prof Umit Bititci, Prof Bing Xu, Dr Matthew Royle and Dr Melissa Marques presenting. Prof Bing reported that they made connections with new companies, for instance Deep Tech, which Prof Bing Xu has plans for a further interview with to develop a case study. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Interdisciplinary Plastics Marketplace Guest Presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | On 6th December 2023, Dr Mohammad Mazharul Islam presented 'Designing Suitable Heterogeneous Catalysts for Polyolefin Upcycling' at the 'Interdisciplinary Plastics Marketplace' event in Cardiff. The event was attended by 40 people, the audiences were Cardiff University academics, students from across Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Law and Bio Science Departments. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/interdisciplinary-plastics-marketplace-tickets-763342115817?aff=oddtd... |
| Description | Met4Tech Researcher Conversations - Roadmaps & Whole System Transitions (Webinar 11th March) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | CircularChem and Met4Tech are collaborating on 11th March for their new online insights series, where researchers from various fields within the NICER Programme, its Circular Economy Centres and the CE-Hub come together to discuss circular economy roadmaps and whole system transitions for the UK. The webinar is a great opportunity to deepen understanding of the latest circular economy research and to engage in meaningful conversations with Met4Tech's wider network. CircularChem's Dr Matthew Royle will present his research 'Roadmap for a circular economy of chemicals: progress so far'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/events/met4tech-researcher-conversations-roadmaps-whole-system-tra... |
| Description | NICER CE Showcase 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The NICER CE Showcase was held at the University of Birmingham on May 23rd-25th. There were 40 attendees for the CircularChem session, where Centre researchers Dr Jonathan Wagner, Andrea Bernardi, Dr Katie Lamb and Dr Swathi Mukundan presented their work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/events/nicer-ce-showcase-2023/ |
| Description | National Postdoc Conference 2023 |
| 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 | C-DICE and Loughborough University hosted the National Postdoc Conference on 19th September 2023.The conference was held at Loughborough University and included talks, workshops, networking and a celebration of postdocs. CircularChem Postdoc Preetam Sharma presented at the Conference. The title of his talk was "Earth Abundant Cu-Sn Catalysts for Selective Electrochemical Conversion of CO2 to CO". The presentation included the electrochemical routes to decarbonization and its scale-up potential as well as how electrochemical technologies can help in decarbonization. Preetam also highlighted why the technology development is so challenging and sometimes is the bottleneck in implementing new processes. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/events/national-postdoc-conference-2023/ |
| Description | Participation in Green carbon for the chemical industry of the future workshop |
| 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 meeting brought together policymakers, academics and industry representatives from across the UK and internationally to discuss and shape the draft version of the Royal Society's Green carbon for the chemical industry report. The event will be chaired by Professor Graham Hutchings FRS and will feature keynote speeches from both UK and international perspectives, followed by breakout discussions in which participants will provide feedback on the various sections of the report. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Participation on workshop on Sustainable Biofuel Production |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The workshop was hosted by the School of Engineering of Lancaster University and aimed at presenting the results of sustainable production of biofuel project that has involved experimental and process simulation work. As a key stakeholder in Biofuels research, I was invited to present my recent contributions to attend the workshop. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Plastics for Future Generations Conference |
| 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 14th June, 2023 Dr Mohammad Mazharul Islam presented 'Designing Suitable Heterogenous Catalysts for Polyolefin Upcycling in the Pursuit of Circular Plastic Economy' at The Plastics for Future Generations Conference. The conference was a great networking opportunity with a diverse attendance for cross-sector collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/events/plastics-for-future-generations-conference/ |
| 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 | Schlumberger Seminars |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Prof Bing Xu designed and delivered seminars to 50 members of the purchasing team from the company Schlumberger on 14 March and 7 June 2023. Bing also conducted a follow-up survey to collect data, Bing has plans for this to lead to further interviews and a case study. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | SuperSolar webinar: Photovoltaics in 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 | After responding to the "Technological innovations and climate change: onshore solar energy" inquiry by the Environmental Audit Committee of the UK Parliament, a collaborative effort from CircularChem team, members at the University of Sheffield and Newcastle University were invited to present at the Supergen SuperSolar event titled 'Photovoltaics in the Circular Economy' on 17th June 2023. The webinar focused on current and future Photovoltaics (PV) recycling strategies (from established silicon panels to next generation PVs) with insights from academia and industry. The panel discussed the feasibility for current recycling methods of established technologies in a circular economy context, and what role legislation can play to encourage using end-of-life PV technology in a more circular manner. Whilst recycling the major components in traditional PV panels is relatively straight forward, the recovery and safe treatment of the rare critical minerals in these panels is difficult to achieve. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.supersolar-hub.org/2023/06/12/photovoltaics-in-the-circular-economy-recording-now-availa... |
| 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 UK Plastics Pact CircularChem 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 | CircularChem collaborated with WRAP & The UK Plastics Pact to run a workshop on 23rd November 2023. During the workshop Centre Co-I, Prof Bing Xu and Heriot-Watt University colleagues provided an overview of their ongoing efforts in developing a system dynamics simulator to support decision-making processes related to circular chemical economy practices. Approximately 50 people attended the workshop. Outcomes included: Enhanced understanding of the components comprising the circular chemical economy system, their interactions and main feedback loops. Investigations into the environmental, economic, and social factors, including the identification of tipping points crucial to the successful adoption, implementation, and diffusion of CircularChem policies. Collected insights and feedback concerning the main input, intermediary and output system variables, and their effects on the overall system behaviour. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/events/the-uk-plastics-pact-circularchem-workshop/ |
| Description | University of Dhaka, Bangladesh Book Launch |
| 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 Mazharul Islam attended a book launch event at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Around 100 students and academics from various educational institutions of Bangladesh including Dhaka University, Green University, Dhaka School of Economics and University of Skill Enrichment and Technology were present. Discussions took place about Circular Chemical Economy and Mazharul Islam introduced the activities of CircularChem & the NICER programme. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Viable Business Modelling and Market Pathways for Algae based CCU |
| 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 21st November 2023, CircularChem researchers collaborated with IDRIC to present at this Algae Carbon Capture and Utilisation: Viable Business Modelling and Routes to Market webinar. Prof Bing Xu, Dr Jonathan Wagner and Rossen Kazakov provided an overview on their current work in developing new algae-based technologies and invited their audience to participate in building scenarios to simulate their potential role for UK carbon capture and utilisation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.com/e/viable-business-modelling-and-market-pathways-for-algae-based-ccu-ticke... |
| Description | Workshop: Roadmap for a Circular Economy of Chemicals |
| 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 | Over the last six months, our CircularChem Centre has engaged with stakeholders across the value chain to gather different perspectives on what a Circular Economy of Chemicals might look like by 2050, what opportunities there are to move away from fossil feedstocks, where conflicts/symbiosis with other sectors might arise, and what interventions could be put in place to accelerate the transition. This research has informed the Centre's paper: "A Circular Economy of Chemicals Roadmap." To finalise this important piece of work, CircularChem hosted the Roadmap for a Circular Economy of Chemicals workshop at Newcastle University on the 24th January. There were 32 attendees with diverse backgrounds. The workshop was an opportunity for stakeholders to reflect on the information collected so far, and to identify and address any gaps, so that the Centre can publish the outcomes from the work in a useful format for the community. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/events/workshop-roadmap-for-a-circular-economy-of-chemicals/ |
| Description | World Symposium of Climate Change and Sustainable Development Centres |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Dr Matthew Royle presented at the World Symposium of Climate Change and Sustainable Development Centres in Hamburg, 29th-30th June 2023. The symposium aimed to provide the opportunity for climate change and sustainable development centres from across the world to present their work and how they can align with the UN sustainability development goals. The approach taken by many managers and educators at this conference was systematic in nature, with an emphasis on the experiences and lessons learnt from working with experts from various backgrounds. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.circular-chemical.org/news/world-symposium-of-climate-change-and-sustainable-development... |