What are the trade-offs between primary resource extraction versus reclamation of resources from waste streams in the context of resource security? How circular can the UK economy become?
Background
The wide range of products harvested from nature and produced by agri-food and forestry industries represent a significant proportion of UK GDP. Ensuring that these products are produced and traded sustainably to the financial and broader benefit of the UK, without damage to the environment, involves a range of critical research questions.
Next steps
Get in touch with Research.Interests@defra.gov.uk
Source
This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:
Topics
Related UKRI funded projects
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ReBALAN:CE - Recycling Biomass to Agricultural LANd: Capitalizing on Eutrophication
This project will bring together an interdisciplinary team of experts from across academic, policy and stakeholder organisations in order to prioritise and plan a response to the pressing science needs associated with re...
Funded by: NERC
Why might this be relevant?
The project focuses on resource recovery from waste, specifically exploring nutrient recovery from excessive aquatic plant and algal biomass production in nutrient enriched waters, which is relevant to the question about reclamation of resources from waste streams.
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Nutrient recovery from waste: Identifying the path to responsible innovation
The defining characteristic of all waste treatment is the utilisation of energy and chemicals to render discharges safe for both humans and the environment. Whilst public and environmental health must remain at the heart...
Funded by: NERC
Why might this be relevant?
The project aims to develop a risk-based decision analysis tool for nutrient recovery from waste, which directly addresses the question about the trade-offs between primary resource extraction and reclamation of resources from waste streams.
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A systems approach to synergistic utilisation of secondary organic streams
Food and plastic wastes from industries and wastewater from food and pharmaceutical manufacturing plants contain significant amount of valuable resources. In the UK, a total of 10 million tonnes of food waste is generate...
Funded by: NERC
Why might this be relevant?
The project focuses on the synergistic utilization of secondary organic streams, which partially addresses the question about reclamation of resources from waste streams. However, it does not specifically address the trade-offs between primary resource extraction and reclamation of resources.