The UK government is exploring how it can reduce the environmental impact of the country’s chemicals sector and it’s tapping into the expertise and resources of the UK’s universities to help it.

East Midlands Business Link revealed that the new Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy is set to be based in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Loughborough University.

In total, seven universities around the country will contribute to its work, with Cardiff, Heriot-Watt, Imperial College London,Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield universities also involved.

Over 20 industrial partners are also participating in the research and work, with some multinational names like Unilever and ExxonMobil among them.

The aim of the Centre for Circular Chemical Economy is to reduce the UK’s reliance on fossil resources by “creating methods to recover and reuse olefins from domestic waste products and CO2 emissions”.

Professor Jin Xuan, who will lead the centre, commented: “Working with this range of partners we will be able to understand the key barriers and drivers to maximise circularity within the chemical industry.”

As Business Green reported, the centre at Loughborough University is one of five being established with government funding to help grow the circular economy.

Each of these centres will focus on a different industry that would benefit from developing a more circular approach to its operations. For instance, a textiles-focused centre will be established at the Royal College of Art in London, while the centre at University College London will explore the construction sector’s circular economy.

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