The National Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy receives the IChemE 2023 Global Award in Sustainability

IChemE has announced the winners of its 2023 Global Awards at a ceremony held on 30 November at the Hilton Metropole in Birmingham, UK. The IChemE Global Awards are esteemed as the world's most prestigious accolades in the field of chemical engineering. The event, hosted by television presenter Dallas Campbell, served as a platform to highlight and celebrate organizations and teams worldwide that showcase excellence in chemical, biochemical, and process engineering. A distinguished panel of 30 judges, representing diverse industries worldwide, meticulously selected winners from over 100 outstanding finalists spanning 19 award categories including Pharmaceuticals, Energy, Industry Project, Innovative Product, Nuclear Engineering, Oil and Gas, Process Automation and Digitalization, Sustainability, Water Resources, Young Researcher, Young Industrialist and so on. The international representation of winners and finalists from various countries including Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Denmark, Netherlands, Portugal, and other EU countries, Saudi Arabia, China, Hongkong, Australia, and Malaysia, highlights the collaborative nature of the chemical engineering community in addressing global challenges, writes Dr. Mazharul M Islam.

The UKRI National Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy (CircularChem) stood out by winning the Sustainability category award sponsored by Johnson Matthey, for its outstanding research in plastic upcycling and carbon dioxide reduction. The centre's collaborative approach involving academia, industry, government, NGOs, and the public is commendable. Their focus on transforming the UK's chemical industry into a fossil-independent, climate-positive, and environmentally friendly circular economy aligns with the growing need for sustainable practices. The academic partners within the CircularChem are Universities of Surrey, Loughborough, Liverpool, Newcastle, Heriot Watt, Cardiff, Sheffield, and Imperial College London. There are over 100 industrial partners. As part of a £30 million strategic government investment, it plays a key role in helping the UK to reduce waste and the environmental impacts of production and consumption and creating opportunities for new UK chemical industries. The UK chemical industry, which is worth £32 billions and will double in next 10 years, is still heavily reliant on fossil-fuel consumption.

The chemical recycling mechanism developed by the CircularChem centre, which depolymerizes plastics into bulk chemicals for synthesizing new plastics or converting them into useful carbon-based products like fuels and oils, is a crucial step in addressing the issues associated with plastic waste. Given the low global recycling rates for plastics and the environmental impact of their production, these efforts contribute significantly to creating a more sustainable and circular economy.

Additionally, the centre employs thermochemical and biological routes to breakdown hard to recycle waste into useful carbon-based products such as bio-oils or synthesis gas (CO+H₂). Furthermore, the centre's leadership in addressing carbon dioxide emissions by developing systems that convert CO₂ into higher energy feedstocks for the chemical industry demonstrates a commitment to tackling broader environmental challenges. This aligns with the growing awareness and urgency to reduce carbon footprints and move towards more environmentally friendly industrial processes.

Among the many distinguished winners were the University of Oxford and its spinout, Oxsed for their ground-breaking development of a rapid test for SARS-COV-2; University of Kent for the Best Consultancy and Process Safety awards; University of Tennessee and Virginia Commonwealth University for Biochemical Engineering; Rolls-Royce SMR for Energy; Sellafield for Nuclear Engineering; Saudi Aramco for Oil and Gas; PETRONAS and University Kebangsaan, Malaysia for the Industry Project Award.

These awards not only acknowledge individual and collective accomplishments but also emphasize the importance of global collaboration in advancing the field. The dedication, expertise, and innovation demonstrated by the winners contribute significantly to the progress and excellence of chemical engineering, making a positive impact on industries, sustainability, and public health.

Dr. Mazharul M Islam works at Cardiff University and is a member of the CircularChem Centre.

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