The University of Exeter is launching the National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Hub, a research hub to coordinate national efforts to create a sustainable, circular economy. The hub is supported by £3.5 million (€3.9 million) from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The new National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Hub will be led by Professor Peter Hopkinson and Professor Fiona Charnley of the University of Exeter Business School. The hub will work with five circular economy centers, which were announced last year, to explore how circular economy could boost the U.K. economy while delivering significant environmental gains.

The five centers funded by UKRI are: the Interdisciplinary Textiles Circularity Centre, led by the Royal College of Art; the Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centre for Mineral-based Construction Materials (ICEC-MCM), led by University College London (UCL); the Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy, led by Loughborough University; the Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centre in Technology Metals, led by the University of Exeter; and the Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Metal, led by Brunel University London. The new National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Hub will also develop the U.K.’s first national circular economy observatory. A circular economy is an economic system that aims at the continual re-use of resources and elimination of waste, in contrast to linear economy, which traditionally revolves around the “take-make-dispose” model.

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