Webinar: Sustainable Circular Economy: Technical, Economic, Political and Social Dimensions

Overview

This webinar will discuss what a circular economy is (and isn’t!) and how it can contribute towards achieving net zero, societal equality, and resource security. Achieving a truly sustainable circular economy involves interacting with technical, economic, political, and social challenges that will set a global research agenda for engineers in the coming decades. The webinar is intended to inform, inspire and provoke.

Speakers

Phil Purnell, Professor of Materials and Structure, Deputy Head of the School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds 

Phil’s original research area was concrete composites. After a period leading a network of researchers looking at alternative uses for cements, he became interested in the environmental, social, and economic impacts of the stocks and flows of physical resources through our economy. His work is inherently interdisciplinary and spans many materials (including concrete, plastics, textiles, biomaterials, and critical metals) and fields of enquiry (including micromechanics, the circular economy, waste management, robotics, and infrastructure business models).

Phil is a Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Art and a CEM Fellow at the University of Cambridge. He acts as a strategic advisor to various HMG and international bodies (eg UKRI, DEFRA, WRAP, and UNEP) and has been PI or Co-I on grants worth around £29M. He is a regular contributor to TV, radio, and online media.

Anne Velenturf, Senior Research Fellow in Circular Economy, University of Leeds  

Anne specialises in facilitating sustainability transitions to implement a circular economy. With resource use directly driving 50% of carbon emissions and 90% of biodiversity loss, changing how we use materials and products is critical for a sustainable future. Anne is an internationally leading circular economy researcher with three main areas of activity. In Yorkshire and the Humber, she leads the Yorkshire Circular Lab to bring diverse people together to trial circular economy ideas in communities.

Across the UK, she collaborates with the resources sector and foundation industries such as cement, metals, and glass. Internationally, she supports circular economy approaches in the wind industry, for which she was awarded the Poul la Cour prize in 2021. Anne has a wide network of partners across academia and public, private and civic sectors, and holds various advisory positions for (inter) governmental bodies, research funders, research and innovation projects, and industry, and professional bodies within and outside the UK.

Webinar recording

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