We are delighted to be to receive news yesterday from the Knowledge Exchange Partnerships Team that Ecobelt have been awarded our 4th collaboration project with Manchester University.
This project sees a further £75K of financial commitment from Ecobelt, taking our total research investment to >£170k.
This project aims to strengthen the relationship with Ecobelt and three University of Manchester (UoM) academics, which originated with the recently successfully completed IAA project “Conveyor belt end-of-life options analysis via life cycle assessment”. The previous project demonstrated the excellent performance of a novel Ecobelt joining design for closing belt loops, developing a repair system, and evaluating the whole life cycle environmental impacts of these innovations, including traditional end-of-life treatments such as incineration and landfilling.
Building on these foundations, the current project seeks to advance environmental sustainability and circularity by establishing options for the repurposing and recycling of conveyor belts at the end of their life cycle. The project aligns with the EPSRC remit by addressing crucial aspects of environmental and chemical engineering as well as materials science. Specifically, it aligns with several UKRI themes, including the circular economy, building a green future, climate change and sustainability, engineering design, manufacturing the future, and Made Smarter Innovation. The project uniquely spans these themes by being the first to apply life cycle assessment to provide comprehensive environmental insights into strategies for repurposing and recycling polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyurethane (PU) (both as multi-laminate grades and solid thermoplastic) based materials. This is tied to both the EPSRC “Energy and Net Zero” and “Manufacturing and Circular Economy” focus areas, as well as the new “Sustainable Industrial Futures” investment and previous National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research centres and hub.
@Nicolas Enrique Labra Cataldo will be the Research & Innovation Associate, working along side the dream team @Alejandro Gallego Schmid, @Laurenace Stamford and @Mike Shaver
This project aims to strengthen the relationship with Ecobelt and three University of Manchester (UoM) academics, which originated with the recently successfully completed IAA project “Conveyor belt end-of-life options analysis via life cycle assessment”. The previous project demonstrated the excellent performance of a novel Ecobelt joining design for closing belt loops, developing a repair system, and evaluating the whole life cycle environmental impacts of these innovations, including traditional end-of-life treatments such as incineration and landfilling. Building on these foundations, the current project seeks to improve the end-of-life management of conveyor belts through the development of a roadmap for repurposing and recycling belts at the end of life into new products. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) will evaluate these products’ environmental impacts compared to virgin materials and current disposal methods (landfilling, incineration). New repurposed and recycled products will undergo physical testing against virgin materials to check their properties. The project will also assess leading technologies to facilitate industrial adoption of sustainable solutions. Additionally, data will be gathered for initial economic, social sustainability, and circular economy analyses, laying the foundation for further collaboration to establish a long-term relationship (through KTP) to explore sustainability from a holistic perspective, considering economic, social, and circular economy aspects.
Our humble appreciation to Alejandro Gallego Schmid, Laurence Stamford, Michael Shaver, Caroline Stanton, with a very special thanks to the amazing Mark Godber.
The University of Manchester, Sustainable Materials Innovation Hub Henry Royce Institute, Sustainable Futures at The University of Manchester, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, Business Engagement and Knowledge Exchange – The University of Manchester to advance environmental sustainability and circularity by establishing options for the repurposing and recycling of conveyor belts at the end of their life cycle.