How ERM uses advanced technology to advance sustainability

The UK government has an opportunity to create new jobs and drive economic growth through expanding the circular economy. This sees products and resources kept in use for as long as possible through reuse, recovery, remanufacturing and recycling. The UK’s current approach is unsustainable. Too many products and materials are cast aside without a structure in place to reclaim them or prolong their use. Too much value is lost through destruction and disposal. A reused iPhone, for example, retains around 48 per cent of its original value, whereas as recyclate it retains just 0.24 per cent. Here Green Alliance shows that greater government ambition for an effective and expanded circular economy by 2035 would create hundreds of thousands of new jobs across the country. Just a few new policies focused on improving the use of valuable resources, led by the Treasury, would help to drive economic growth and the government’s own levelling up agenda, while supporting environmental aspirations.

An important new research project into how the UK could increase its use of hydrogen and alternative liquid fuels, as part of the country’s commitment to reaching Net Zero in 2050, is set to begin at the University of Bath.  From 1 April, Professor Tim Mays, from Bath’s Department of Chemical Engineering, will head up a new project funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) aimed at tackling the research challenges blocking the wider use of these low carbon fuels in the UK.  Professor Mays will become one of two UK Hydrogen Research Co-ordinators who aim over the next six months to establish national Centres of Excellence based at their home institutions. The other co-ordinator project exploring better systems integration of these fuels will be headed up at Newcastle University by Professor Sara Walker.  Professor Mays said: “A thriving, low carbon hydrogen sector is essential for the government’s plans to build back better, with a cleaner, greener energy system. Large amounts of low carbon hydrogen and alternative liquid fuels such as ammonia will be needed, which must be stored and transported to points of use. Much research is required, and we will work collaboratively across multiple disciplines to help meet these challenges.”