News
07/11/19
Announcing the launch of the Big Compost ExperimentTake part in the Big Compost Experiment, a nationwide survey of home composting of biodegradable plastics
23/10/19
UCL launches its new sustainability strategyUCL has announced it will divest from fossil fuels by the end of 2019
16/10/19
Plastic Waste Hub submits report on biodegradable plastics to UK government's consultationThe environmental credentials of biodegradable plastics are questionable
10/07/19
Perspectives on a better future for plasticsAs part of Raw Materials: Plastics at Nunnery Gallery, London E3
27/06/19
Plastic Fantastic!Reinvigorate your love of plastics at the Institute of Making's Festival of Stuff
Plastic Waste Innovation Hub
About Us
The Plastic Waste Hub
We are a multidisciplinary team of researchers, including scientists, engineers, designers, and social scientists, taking a design-led approach to the issue of plastic waste.
Our core team
Ayse Lisa Allison
Centre for Behaviour Change
Behaviour Change
Esther Ambrose-Dempster
Chemistry
Organic Chemistry
Miguel Casas Arredondo
Built Environment
Material Flow Analysis
Dr Kimberley Chandler
Plastic Waste Innovation Hub
Project Co-ordinator
Charnett Chau
Chemical Engineering
Biochemical Engineer
Dr Leona Leipold
Chemistry
Biocatalysis
Projects
Designing-out Plastic Waste
This 18-month project, funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), brings together a diverse team of UCL researchers interested in solving the UK's plastic waste problem. Our aim is to develop new ways to design-out waste from plastic packaging and create new business opportunities. We believe that waste is a failure of design: whether that is a failure to design plastics that are reusable, recyclable, or compostable; a failure to design waste-collection methods that encourage a more proactive approach to recycling; a failure to design economically viable mechanical and chemical recycling processes; or a failure to design the market incentives that ensure local authorities can invest in waste-management technology. Each design failure affects and compromises the whole system, leading to the leakage of plastic into the environment, and creating an economic burden on the UK.
Led by Professor Mark Miodownik, the project takes a design approach to the issue of plastic waste by assembling a multidisciplinary team of experts from across UCL, who will create and test new interventions in eliminating plastic waste. The team will also collaborate with a Steering Committee of professionals from across the sector, including those from manufacturing, retailers, policy makers, local government, sustainability charities, and waste management.
To understand more about the genesis of the project, you can listen to Professor Mark Miodownik's three-part radio programme, ‘Plastic Fantastic’, for BBC Radio 4 here.
Our Objectives
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Develop enzyme-catalysed recycling technologies
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Design novel solutions
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Interface with the public through the Hub
External industry partners
Multidisciplinary
- Public policy
- Behaviour change
- Economics
- Design
- Chemistry
- Biochemical Engineering
- Chemical Engineering
- Digital
- Materials Science
Global outlook
- Researchers
- Shoppers
- Businesses
- NGOs
- Teachers
- Department for International Development (DFID)
- Schools
- Students
- Families
Other PRIF centres
- University of Sheffield: Plastics: Redefining Single-Use
- University of Hull: Evolving a Circular Plastics Economy
- University of Exeter: ExeMPLaR
- University of Cambridge: CirPlas
- Queen's University Belfast: ACCEPT
- Imperial College London
- The University of Manchester: RE3 - Rethinking Resources and Recycling
Funding
The fund is managed by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), delivered via the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Innovate UK, with strategic oversight from Professor Duncan Wingham, Executive Chair of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).
Contact Us
UCL Plastic Waste Innovation Hub
Level 2, 90 Tottenham Court Road
London. W1T 4TJ