Tackling non-mineral, non-municipal construction waste through research and stakeholder engagement by Dr Swathi Mukundan Introduction Discussions on sustainability often focus on household recycling and plastic waste reduction, yet non-mineral, non-municipal construction and demolition (C&D) waste remains a significant but frequently…
Sustainable Transformation: Converting Biomass into Bio-oil and High-Value Chemicals by Samson Akpotu Imagine a world where agricultural waste, forestry residues and lignocellulosic biomass are not discarded but transformed into platform chemicals and valuable fuels. This is no longer a distant…
Bioelectrochemical Systems: Converting Waste to Value by Mohammad Danish Khan Imagine a world where waste is turned into a resource that does not pollute our environment but sustains a circular economy. Specifically, I mean now that waste can be converted…
Hijacking vs Integrating with the Carbon Cycle by James Finn. The carbon cycle is one of nature’s most fundamental processes, where carbon atoms constantly move between the atmosphere, land, oceans, and life, taking on different forms as it does. This…
How Quickly Can Circular Economy Projects Scale? Lessons from Renewable Energy by Qianqian Ma. The circular economy (CE) is rapidly gaining attention, with businesses increasingly adopting CE principles and rolling out related innovations. This momentum is driven by government incentives,…
How do we as Consumers of Chemical Products Help Transition the Industry to a Circular Chemical Economy? By Ben Cummings Introduction The chemical industries are vital to worldwide health and wealth. They continue to grow and diversify through the innovation…
Chemicals are everywhere in our lives. Whether a natural or synthetic product, they are all made of chemicals. As such, chemical manufacturing is a vast, global enterprise. In the UK alone, the chemical industry had an annual turnover of £32…
The Glowing Green Elephant in the Room: The Pros and Cons of Embracing Nuclear Energy by Max Quayle It will not come as a surprise to many that nuclear energy has an image problem. When we hear “nuclear power”, we…
Circularity of carbon: how can we make aviation greener? By Dr Andrea Bernardi The aviation industry accounts for approximately 3% of the total global CO2 emissions. Despite this seemingly small contribution, decarbonizing the aviation sector poses significant challenges. While electric…
How Can We Reduce Plastic Waste? By Dr Donald R Inns Man-made plastics have become a ubiquitous part of our daily lives and are found in almost every product, owing to their tailorable, mouldable, and durable properties. The majority of…
Circularity of carbon: selective electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide by Preetam Sharma Circular economy operates on the principles of reuse, refurbish and recycle. For humanity to stay in the safe operating limits, these principles need to be…
Converting Methane By-Products to Valuable Chemicals by Ben Lyons. One of the main principles that a circular economy is based on is the reduction or elimination of waste streams. Despite significant progress in the chemical industry towards waste reduction, there…
Accelerating circular economy - not a minority game by Ruini Qu. Policymakers and researchers increasingly refer to circular economy as a practical instrument to strike a balance between industrial expansion, environmental and human health, and economic progress. The shift from…
Investigation on Green Catalysts for a Sustainable Transformation from Linear to Circular Chemical Economy by Dr. Mazharul M Islam. The inventions during all industrial revolutions have been the most powerful drivers of wealth and increased well-being. However, the focus on…
CO2 electrochemical reduction at a supply chain level by Grazia Leonzio. Currently, the circular economy is at the center of the policy debate due to its important role in fighting climate change as studies have reported that this kind of…
Researching success and failure in the circular economy by Melissa Marques. For centuries, humanity has thrived through a linear economy based on an ‘extract-produce-use-dump’ pattern. Although this model has generated exponential wealth for businesses and nations, it has also created…
CCUS and the circular chemical economy by Mengfei Jiang. Chemical industry's reliance on fossil fuels and fossil feedstocks results in the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) during the manufacturing, usage and end-of-life phases. The conversion of CO2 emissions into high-value…
Release The Potential Of Digital Tools Numerical optimisation of gas diffusion electrode (GDE) for electrochemical CO2 reduction by Lei Xing Switching to a circular economy could reduce greenhouse gas emission by 39% and ease pressure on virgin materials by 28%,…
Creating Policies for the implementation of a Circular Economy in the UK by Dr Katie Lamb. Policy can be a make or break point for newly developed technologies. Many researchers will undoubtedly be aware (or have even encountered) the “Valley…
Driving enzymes with electricity to make valuable chemicals by Bhavin Siritanaratkul. One aspect of a circular economy is the conversion of waste streams like CO2 back into useful chemicals, and in this we have much to learn from Nature. The…