The Polymer Processing Research Centre (PPRC) at the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Queens, is delighted to be involved in the delivery of a new £1 million project on reducing plastics waste.  The Advancing Creative Circular Economies for Plastics via Technological-Social Transitions (ACCEPT Transitions) project is one of eight national UKRI funded programmes that will complete ground breaking research into new and different ways of making, using and recycling plastics that were recently announced by the Science Minister, Chris Skidmore.  A circular economy aims to keep resources in use for as long as possible, extracting maximum value from a product while it is in use then recovering and regenerating materials at the end of the service life for each subsequent product that shares elements from the original system.

The QUB project will frame opportunities for realising a sustainable and resilient plastics circular economy and integrate innovation and creative design thinking across technological, policy, consumer behaviour and supply chain domains.  

PPRC involvement in the project builds upon a wealth of previous experience in working with industrial partners to optimise processes through efficient use of materials and energy.  The primary aims of the work are to reduce cost and minimise environmental impact.  The team will be seeking input from industry in taking the ACCEPT Transitions project forward.