Waste and resource management

Raw materials are key to economic, industrial and societal growth. Key to meeting the demands of the future is a move to a circular economy where resources are used efficiently with extraction of maximum value, then value recovered and regenerated to produce energy, materials and products at the end of their serviceable life.

Our research focuses on waste as a resource, with the aim of developing technologies and processes for the sustainable production of key materials from secondary and unconventional resources.

Current areas of interest include synthesis of functional materials from waste biomass, biopolymers from waste and unconventional resources, valorisation of solid residues from thermal processing and assessing the opportunities and potential environmental risks of landfill mining operations.