On 14th February 2019 Energy@Cambridge hosted the first Forum meeting of the new Cambridge Centre for Circular Economy Approaches to Eliminate Plastic Waste at the Maxwell Centre, Cambridge. The Centre is one of eight new research projects funded through the Plastics and Research Innovation Fund managed by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The Cambridge Centre is led by Erwin Reisner (Chemistry) and a multidisciplinary team of academic researchers - Paul Dupree (Biochemistry) James Elliott (Materials), Adrian Fisher (Chemical Engineering), Jeremy Baumberg (Physics), Jonathan Cullen (Engineering), David Aldridge (Zoology), Ronan Daly (Engineering), Brigitte Steger (Asian and Middle Eastern Studies) and Khaled Soufani (Judge Business School).
The Forum introduced the new research programme which is supported by £1 million over 18 month for activities focussed on exploring new and different ways of making, using and recycling plastics. Dr Peter Hedges, Head of the University's Research Office and Dr Nick Cooper, Senior Portfolio Manager at EPSRC outlined the importance of the programme to support the wider national research and innovation agenda. There were presentations from our collaborators, including Cambridge Cleantech, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Waste Partnership (RECAP), Innovate UK and DEFRA, and quick-fire talks from students and post-doctoral researchers. There was also plenty of networking and discussion of future potential collaborations at an informal drinks reception.
The programme is managed by Energy@Cambridge and supported by the Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy, the Centre for Global Equality, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, British Antarctic Survey and Cambridge Centre for Circular Economy.