SPLICE: Sustainable Processes Linked for an Integrated Circular Economy

Our vision aims to accelerate societal change towards reimagining wastes as sources of energy and valuable resources. Current waste management and energy and resource recovery schemes rely on expensive infrastructure that limit their applicability. Through a novel combination of low-cost technologies, we aim to provide a disruptive full-system solution to support a circular economy and improve sustainability, well-being, and reduce inequalities in the UK and globally. Liquid and solid waste generation is growing rapidly worldwide with population and urbanisation. This growth is leading to management challenges and widespread environmental pollution. These current management challenges pollute surrounding environments and ecosystems and exacerbate public health challenges. For example, even high-income countries – like the UK – struggle to adequately protect waterbodies from wastes, as a 2022 UK parliament report revealed that not a single river in England met good chemical status. At the same time, materials discharge from mismanaged wastes into the environment is a lost economic opportunity. Environmental contamination and economic losses due to unsustainable waste management are key societal challenges. 

Our internationally renowned biotechnology, engineering, and environmental team aims to combat these societal challenges via a bold vision to bridge seemingly disparate technologies and provide disruptive, full-system solutions to recover, recycle, and generate valuable materials and energy from wastes. 

This vision aims to leverage unique strengths at The Open University in support of low-cost and energy-efficient techniques that will catapult both high- and low-income countries towards a circular economy.

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Email Gillian Hosier or call on 01908 858285 to discuss this project