The UK Government has funded £22.5 million into five advanced research centres in Exeter, London and Loughborough, so industries can tackle waste, drive recycling and bounce back more sustainably from coronavirus.
Recycling of chemicals, construction, electronics, metals and textiles will now be more feasible with this funding.
Many sectors welcome this news, particularly the UK’s textiles industry, which almost create the same amount of emissions as cars, which are used for private journeys. Additionally, an estimate of £140 million worth of garments ends up into landfill every year.
These research centres will examine how the reuse and recycling of waste materials from chemical, construction, electronics, metal, textiles and transport industries can help to stop the production of 154 million tonnes of mineral waste each year. For reference, this is enough to fill 30,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools and will ultimately help to protect the environment and boost the economy.
Expanding and advancing the circular economy can help to lessen greenhouse gas emissions, it will conserve natural resources and present new opportunities for UK industries, and up to 500,000 jobs by 2030 (according to research).
Kwasi Kwarteng, Minister of State at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said “we want to further the UK’s status as a world leader in finding green solutions to industrial challenges. Projects like these are excellent examples of placing manufacturers at the forefront of the green industrial revolution.”
“Creating a more circular economy for our waste and resources lies at the heart of this Government’s transformative agenda for the environment. We are committed to going further and faster to reduce, reuse and recycle more of our resources, with strong measures to enable this in our landmark Environment Bill,” adds Rebecca Pow, Parliamentary under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
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