Testimonials
I led the Tees Valley Sustainable Olefins Production project that closely aligns with the work of the Centre. Some of the benefits from collaborating with the Centre were having access to technical expertise needed for the Tees Valley project. Also, the Centre provided a community for like-minded individuals to network, discuss challenges and opportunities for circular and sustainable chemicals in the UK.
I think the most significant achievement I see is the conversations on circularity and the opportunities and challenges of circular chemicals in the UK. This has piqued the interest of many in the industry and have pushed the conversations around sustainable chemicals further. I believe the most important factor (to facilitate the UK’s transition toward a sustainable, circular chemicals industry) would be supportive legislations and industrial strategy.
Dr Chioma Udeozor
Innovate UK Project Lead – Circular Economy at NEPIC
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I have been involved with the Strategic Advisory Board from the start supporting the work that has been ongoing and giving critical feedback as required. The work within the different teams has helped to build out our understanding of what will be required for the future. As a company we have interacted with a number of the teams on CircularChem activities either individually or as part of larger consortia, this has helped build out our knowledge and understanding of the challenges that we face.
The science that has been undertaken as part of the CircularChem Centre is very important but I believe the most significant achievement is the knowledge that has been obtained across all areas to shape the roadmap and to help influence and develop policy to make the changes towards a circular economy. There is still a long way to go and many challenges to overcome but the picture is clearer. We will not be successful with everything that we do but that is the nature of science and we will build on our successes as we transition towards a sustainable and circular chemicals industry.
There needs to be a clear roadmap towards success and both policies and money to enable the scale-up of the technologies needed to succeed. I believe that we are on the right path and if we all pull together then we can be successful.
Darren Budd
Commercial Director at BASF
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Increasing circularity means moving away from a linear (take-make-dispose) economy, to one where products and materials are reused, repurposed and recycled. This reduction in consumption of raw or virgin material not only reduces waste, but can also reduce the need to extract and process additional raw materials.
As well as being the right thing for a responsible business to do, we believe a focus on circular economy and waste can bring opportunities to create new business models, drive innovation and respond to customer expectations.
Through Shell’s involvement with the National Interdisciplinary Centre for the Circular Chemical Economy we have learnt much about the feedstocks of the future: the potential of biomass, municipal waste and CO2. We have also learnt about the ways these feedstocks can be converted to new products and how new value streams can be generated. We especially value the fact that the Centre has brought together key stakeholders from academia, industry, government and NGOs to understand how we, together, can transform the UK’s chemical industry.
Professor Jeremy Shears
Chief Scientist at Shell Research Ltd
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I am Chair of the Strategic Advisory Board for CircularChem, a role which has been shared by others in my organisation, including Sheena Hindocha. At Innovate UK Business Connect our role is to accelerate innovation by connecting people to funding and partners, but also to gather knowledge and insights around the needs of the sector and strategic opportunities for the future. We have found the CircularChem network to be a precious opportunity to interact with top academic talent from across different research areas and disciplines. It has also played a valuable role in bringing together a single voice of the academic and industry community, feeding into evolving chemical sector strategy.
Owing to the diverse nature of the chemical sector, it struggles to communicate to external stakeholders where are the opportunities for the future. CircularChem has provided a means to collate the views of top academics working in different technology areas but also to ensure those views are informed by the industry.
We need to identify mechanisms that ensure chemists, engineers, industrial biotech experts and life cycle assessment experts from across academia and industry continue to work together on projects that we can scale up in the UK.
Dr Peter Clark
Head of Chemistry & Industrial Biotechnology at Innovate UK Business Connect
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Johnson Matthey has been proud to engage with CircularChem since the inception of the collaboration. It has been fantastic to have such a high profile and multi-faceted Centre operating within the UK and promoting such a positive generational shift in the mode of operation of our chemical industry. Johnson Matthey has played a small but exciting role within CircularChem via our engagement with the Strategic Advisory Board. This role has provided Johnson Matthey with a depth of insight into a number of programmes and, most importantly, has given us a perspective on the breadth of activities that comprise the activities of the Centre.
Gaining support from policy makers and from project financers is one of the most important challenges that Johnson Matthey faces as our company drives forward the development and commercialisation of new sustainable technologies for chemical manufacture. In this context, I would call out the work that CircularChem has completed on policy development for a circular chemical economy. The extent of effort on this topic and the quality of engagement with influential stakeholders has been excellent and such advocacy is hugely appreciated by Johnson Matthey.
Raymond Hadden
Business Development Manager, Catalyst Technologies at Johnson Matthey