The University of Warwick, Manchester and UCL Celebrates Launch of £13.6m EPSRC Sustainable Engineering Plastics Research Hub

More than 60 delegates representing over 40 companies and three leading academic institutions gathered at the University of Warwick to celebrate the official launch of the EPSRC Manufacturing Research Hub in Sustainable Engineering Plastics (SEP).

The event brought together a diverse community of researchers, engineers, and innovators from academia and industry — including partners such as Jaguar Land Rover, Polestar, Mitsubishi, NETZSCH, SUEZ, and Barratt Redrow — marking the start of a seven-year programme to redefine how engineering plastics are designed, reused, repaired, and recycled.

Collaborative Launch Event

The launch event served not only as a celebration but as a forum for collaboration and co-creation. Delegates took part in a series of interactive breakout sessions organised around the Hub’s five Grand Challenges and Launch Projects, co-developed with industrial partners.

These sessions enabled academics and industry leaders to share insights, explore cross-sector opportunities, and shape the Hub’s research agenda. Discussions focused on accelerating innovation and turning cutting-edge science into practical, sustainable solutions for UK manufacturing.

Addressing the Five Grand Challenges

Working alongside more than 60 industrial partners, the Hub will address five interconnected challenges to drive sustainability across the plastics value chain:

1. Overcoming barriers to the adoption of sustainable materials
2. Harnessing emerging digital technologies
3. Enabling reuse and remanufacturing to extend product lifetimes
4. Developing advanced recycling and upcycling methods
5. Creating robust sustainability assessment frameworks

Driving Circular Innovation

The UK plastics industry generates £28 billion annually and employs around 180,000 people, yet only an estimated 20–25% of plastics are currently recycled — compared to approximately 85% for materials such as steel and aluminium.

By developing advanced recycling technologies, digital traceability systems, and circular design principles, the SEP Hub aims to close this gap and reduce the environmental footprint of durable plastics used in the transport, construction, and electronics sectors.

Over the next seven years, the SEP Hub will deliver more than 40 research projects, beginning with four co-designed Core Projects focusing on:

• Intersectoral recycling,
• Reuse and durability,
• AI-driven recycling systems, and
• Disassembly methods for complex multi-material components.

Professor Ton Peijs, Director of the SEP Hub and Professor of Polymer Engineering at WMG, said: “Sustainability can’t be achieved by innovation in isolation. It requires working across disciplines and industries. By bringing together leading researchers with a broad range of industrial partners, the Hub will connect fundamental research in sustainable and circular plastics with practical application to deliver real-world impact”