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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 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.
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).
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.
Carbon8 Systems (C8S) was founded on joint research between UCL and the University of Greenwich. The company has since developed a technology known as Accelerated Carbonation, which helps to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by using carbon dioxide gas to treat waste materials and form artificial aggregate. In January 2013, C8S completed the first commercial plant for treating municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) fly ashes, designed to produce 1,000 tonnes per day of aggregate. Masonry products company Lignacite has also benefited commercially. It has used C8S's aggregate to develop an award-winning building block that captures more carbon dioxide than is emitted during its manufacture. Carbon8 Systems and its offshoot company Carbon8 Aggregates currently employ 11 people.
Projects within the Silicates Research Unit have expanded the aesthetic and technical boundaries of ceramic materials and have had a significant impact on sustainable practices and materials within contemporary design. In response to increasingly stringent sustainable construction legislation, an AHRC Grant (£163,000) funded Binns and Bremner's development of a unique process for converting low-value mineral waste into high-value architectural products, avoiding reliance on non-replenishable materials.
Testing by the Environment Agency National Testing Laboratory has verified their innovative material meets British Standards for architectural materials (UK patent application, currently pending publication). It has also confirmed that the incorporation of Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) lead bearing glass (designated by the Environment Agency as hazardous waste) in the new material results in the lead content being safely encapsulated, offering a solution to the global problem of hazardous CRT waste glass recycling - allowing CRT glass to be re-classified as a safe raw material.
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 at Loughborough University during the REF period (and extending back at least three decades beyond that) has had a significant impact on national and international policy decisions governing the management of radioactive waste, one of the Grand Challenges facing society. The Unit's research ranges from deep geological disposal to abatement of marine discharges and remediation strategies for industrial radioactive waste, the latter safeguarding the competitiveness of the oil & gas and mineral processing sectors. This input has been crucial for revising the new Environmental Permitting Regulations and International Basic Safety Standards. Many of the Unit's doctoral graduates occupy important decision-making roles at key organisations such as the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), Sellafield, Environment Agency, CEA (France) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Research into a new waste treatment process model at Loughborough University (1993 to date) has resulted in the following benefits for Unilever:
The demand for biofuels and alternative energies is increasing globally as a sustainable source of energy is sought for the future. Energy from crops is no longer a viable option due to the increase in wheat prices. Scientists at the BEST Research Institute have managed to bridge the gap by using novel and unique microwave systems for converting waste (biomass, food, animal) into energy. Our advances in this area have generated considerable interest from both national (e.g., United Utilities PLC, Balfour Beatty PLC, Biofuels Wales Ltd, Stopford Projects Ltd, Longma Clean Energy Ltd) and international (e.g., RIKEN-Japan, Fraunhofer-Germany, Sairem-France, Acondaqua-Spain, Ashleigh Farms-Ireland) companies. This has resulted in several collaborative, funded projects leading to industrial adoption of our microwave technologies.