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Through strategic national roles Grimes and Lee have had a major impact on the expansion of the UKs nuclear R&D programme since 2000 and on directing Government policy in the nuclear sector. Their research led directly to appointments to influential positions including (Grimes) as Specialist Advisor Nuclear to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee (HoLSTC) for their report on Nuclear R&D Capabilities and (Lee) as Deputy Chair of the Government Advisory Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM), which has a major scrutiny and advice role to Government's £multi-billion Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) programme reporting directly to the Energy Minister. Due to his unique insight in nuclear engineering Grimes is now Chief Scientific Adviser to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Research carried out by the University of Southampton has directly influenced the practice and behaviour of households, business, industry and government agencies. It has:
The impact of the research by the Caledonian Environment Centre can be demonstrated by the shift in Scotland's recycling rates from 4% in 1998 when the Centre was established, to 40% in 2011. The Centre's research methods were embedded in assessment tools which led to Scottish Councils being provided with £64m of additional annual funding. The Remade Scotland programme, hosted and developed by the Centre, between 2000 and 2010, delivered change as the first recyclate UK market development programme, and was further developed across the UK: two years later leading to the establishment of Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP).
The research of Prof Jim Frederickson and the Integrated Waste Systems Research group at The Open University (OU) has impacted industrial partners and government agencies in developing a sustainable approach to waste processes and treated products. In particular they have developed the biodegradability tests (DR4 and BM100/BMc) used extensively for the evaluation of Mechanical and Biological Treatment (MBT) waste plants, and also the Residual Biogas Potential (RBP) test for determining the stability of anaerobic digestates, which forms part of the BSI PAS110: 2010 specification. This work is a significant contribution to the development of sustainable waste management practices in the UK.
Wastes management represents a major global environmental challenge. In the early 2000s Defra recognised that the UK's emphasis needed to change from managing waste to preventing it arising, and that Local Authorities must be equipped to produce cost-effective waste reduction plans. To this end, WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) financed a major Local Authority training programme involving the Centre for Sustainable Wastes Management (CSWM) due to its track record of research expertise. Evaluation of this training demonstrated that over 90% of 204 delegates (from 33% of Local Authorities) developed a deeper understanding of waste prevention and 41% consequently upgraded their plans, embedding sustainable practice into their organisations and reducing arisings. The ultimate impact of this has been to save Local Authorities money and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.
Novel low-wear, high-strength glass-ceramics were developed at Queen Mary in 2000-2011 by Dr Cattell's team to prevent facture and wear of dental ceramic restorations. Over three million restorations have been provided for patients and sold in 46 countries. The product has won industry awards for clinical and cosmetic excellence from the Clinical Research Associates and Dental Advisor, who externally assess products for consumers. The product uses a 100% pain-free minimally invasive approach, saving as much as 20% enamel reduction per patient, as tooth preparation and anaesthesia are not required. We also estimate a substantial reduction in tooth enamel wear of 43-46% for this nano-scale product compared to commercial porcelain. It has high patient acceptance and satisfaction, and has received media coverage worldwide.
The work of the MTP research group can evidence significant impact upon the field of applied arts practice, industry, public audiences and education through material and process related innovations leading to formal and conceptual advances and their application in social contexts. Exemplary work by Cummings has brought the technique of glass casting into the main stream of studio glass practice; Heeney has reformed industrial working practices concerning traditional cutting boxes and soda-firing for use in architectural scale work; Brennand-Wood has reformed cultural perceptions of ornament through the reinterpretation of textile ornament in the context of cultural and political commentary.
Accelerated Carbonation Technology (ACT) is an innovative solution to several key environmental issues - CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, sustainable use of resources and the reliance on use of virgin stone for construction. ACT rapidly stabilises industrial waste recycling it into valuable aggregate, thereby reducing the amount going to landfill. ACT simultaneously captures the greenhouse gas CO2, via the rapid production of carbonate, which solidifies the waste into a hardened product. ACT has been commercialised through two spin-out companies leading to the first commercial production of carbon negative concrete blocks, taking hazardous waste from the bottom to the top of the waste hierarchy.
Research at the Institute of International Research in Glass (IIRG), into the combination of water-jet cutting and print for glass has been influential in the offering of insights and new working methods for the international community of artists and designers within and beyond the creative glass community, which in turn has resulted in the production of innovative artworks, public commissions and exhibitions. Innovations in technique have influenced the commissioning and interpretation of artworks for the cultural sector.
Research at Brunel University demonstrated how the Powder Impression Moulding (PIM) process can be adapted to form a solid-skinned and foamed core polymer lightweight sandwich panel from 100% mixed post-consumer polymers. The research showed that unlike conventional plastic recycling technologies, this process was tolerant to high concentrations of impurities. It was also shown that coarse flakes could be used as feedstock, removing the need to grind the feedstock to a fine powder. This, for the first time, established the PIM process as a recyling method and provides a source of income for industries collecting post-consumer plastics. In 2009, ERT Plc, who own the IP associated with PIM, signed a licence agreement with 2K Manufacturing Ltd to manufacture and sell a range of flat-board products made from 100% mixed post-consumer plastics. These boards are sold as EcoSheets and are 2K Manufacturing's only product. 2K buy post-consumer recycled plastics from recycling firms who run Municipal Recycling Facilities, (MRF), providing them with increased income from waste collected from consumers, and sell EcoSheets to a variety of industries and distributors for applications in construction, agriculture, flood control facilities and military uses. For commercial reasons, exact production and sales figures are not available, but we estimate that at least 1 million boards have been produced and sold since 2009. The impact on the end user is that, although the price of an EcoSheet is comparable to the plywood board it replaces, EcoSheet does not rot, is more workable, and can be recycled several times.
ERT Plc have licensed the technology enhanced by the Brunel research to a number of other businesses.Thus the research at Brunel has assisted the creation of a new industrial sector, and a new product with many advantages, including reduced reliance on virgin polymers and reduced environmental burdens (such as landfill costs), over the product it replaces. This has created economic and environmental benefits at all stages of the consumer plastic cycle, creating new industries and jobs.