Resource Management
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We are extracting more finite resources to produce goods and services than our planet can replenish.
Key areas of focus:
- Energy efficiency
- Materials engineering
- Waste and circular economy
Resource Management - key areas
Resources Management is the study of the better use of finite assets and the reduction of carbon emissions.
It won't be possible to sustain economic growth and social development with our current consumption and production patterns. As a race, we are currently extracting more resources to produce goods and services than our planet can replenish. In the meantime, a large share of an increasingly urban world population is struggling to meet basic needs.
Being efficient with resources - including water, energy, packaging, transport, raw materials and waste - benefits everyone.
Research and innovation at the Resource Efficiency Research Centre (RERC) will play a key role in the transition towards a green, resource-efficient, low-carbon and climate-resilient economy.
RERC is currently setting up a new aggregate recycling demonstrator plant at the London Sustainable Industry Park (LSIP). The plant is an upgrade of an installation previously operated at Manufactured Aggregate Research Centre (MARC) and has been designed using novel state of the art technology.
Energy efficiency
Making better use of our energy resources will be just as important as finding alternative sources of energy supply. The SRI works with innovators developing novel approaches to conserving energy within the built environment and supports businesses to adopt and mainstream sustainable behaviours and energy-efficient practices.
Key projects and contracts: BARM, Eureka, FLASH
Materials engineering
Materials science and engineering is a vital research area for industrial sectors - with the demand for new materials in the manufacture of innovative products and devices continuing to increase.
The material science and engineering research we do at SRI includes work on renewable and sustainable energy, materials efficiency, sustainable construction, climate change, biotechnology and, information technology. Our work seeks to improve the performance of existing materials and investigates how materials can be developed for new applications by understanding their intrinsic properties and atomic level behaviours.
Key projects and contracts: Bio-based natural insulation, Aggregate Industries - Concrete Design
Waste and circular economy
Ensuring that components and materials retain their highest utility and value is central to the SRI's projects in this area. We have a particular focus on ensuring waste resources with perceived low values can be viably brought back into productive use for manufacture and construction.
Key projects and contracts: C2C Bizz, Waste and recycling project, Hazardous waste reuse