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Addressing climate change requires more than transitioning to renewable electricity; it demands a fundamental rethinking of the materials we use daily. A new £6 million programme known as CIRCARB (Circular and Biogenic Carbon Pathways for a Sustainable Future) is tackling this exact challenge. Backed by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), this four-year initiative focuses on cutting industrial emissions and achieving fossil fuel replacement across three of the UK’s most carbon-intensive sectors: chemicals, construction materials, and plastics. Loughborough University plays a central role in this environmental research, providing specialized engineering expertise to help the UK build a sustainable, circular industrial economy.
Understand the Scope of the CIRCARB Programme
Run from September 2026, the CIRCARB programme represents a significant investment in the UK’s sustainable energy future. Led by Aston University, the project brings together a coalition of academic institutions—including the University of Edinburgh and Loughborough University—alongside more than 26 industry partners. This collaborative approach ensures that the research moves beyond theoretical models and directly into practical, scalable industrial applications.
The core premise of CIRCARB is addressing a blind spot in current climate strategies. While much of the public focus on net-zero revolves around electrifying transport or switching to wind and solar power, the physical structure of modern life relies heavily on fossil-derived carbon. Plastics, synthetic chemicals, and construction materials contain embedded carbon that cannot be eliminated simply by changing the energy source used to manufacture them. CIRCARB targets this embedded carbon directly, seeking alternative feedstocks that do not contribute to atmospheric greenhouse gases.
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Target the Chemicals Sector for Sustainable Energy
Loughborough University experts are taking the lead on the chemical sector theme within the CIRCARB project. The UK chemicals industry is an economic powerhouse, worth approximately £30 billion and exporting more than £54 billion annually. However, it currently sources about 90% of its carbon from fossil feedstocks. Breaking this dependency is a monumental task that requires innovative chemical engineering.
Researchers at Loughborough University are working directly with industry partners, such as the British chemicals company Croda, to develop and demonstrate novel catalytic pathways. Instead of extracting carbon from crude oil or natural gas, the team is focusing on deriving platform chemicals from sustainable biomass and captured CO2. Specifically, CIRCARB researchers are developing catalytic routes that convert biomass-derived bio-oils and captured CO₂ into foundational chemicals like olefins and methanol. By optimizing these reactions, the team aims to reduce the reliance on hydrogen in the conversion process, thereby improving overall carbon efficiency and lowering the energy requirements for chemical production.
Explore our related articles for further reading on the future of the UK chemicals sector and green chemistry innovations.
Advance Construction Materials and Plastics
While Loughborough University leads the chemical research, the broader CIRCARB programme addresses two other massive contributors to UK emissions. A systems-level approach is necessary because the principles of a circular economy apply equally to the built environment and consumer packaging.
Reduce Emissions in Construction
The construction sector contributes around 6% of the UK’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and supports millions of jobs, but it carries a heavy environmental burden. Cement production alone is responsible for an estimated 7.3 million tonnes of CO₂ each year. To combat this, CIRCARB researchers are exploring routes to manufacture carbon-negative aggregates. By processing and heating agricultural farm waste, the project aims to create construction materials that actively store CO₂ rather than emitting it. Integrating these bio-based aggregates into standard concrete mixes could drastically reduce the lifecycle carbon footprint of new infrastructure and housing.
Develop Bioplastics from Waste
The plastics sector presents a similar challenge, generating more than £32 billion in annual turnover in the UK but producing an estimated 26 million tonnes of CO₂-equivalent lifecycle emissions. CIRCARB is investigating biological solutions to this problem by using specific strains of microbes to convert organic waste streams into valuable materials. By feeding microbes waste products like potato peelings and used cooking oil, researchers can produce biodegradable bioplastics suitable for packaging. This approach not only prevents waste from going to landfill but also creates a closed-loop system where packaging materials originate from biological sources and can safely break down at the end of their useful life.
Track Carbon with Digital Carbon Passports
Creating sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels is only half the battle; verifying and tracking their environmental impact is equally important. To address this, Loughborough University is developing Digital Carbon Passports as part of the CIRCARB initiative. A Digital Carbon Passport acts as a comprehensive digital record that traces, verifies, and optimizes the embedded carbon across a material’s entire lifecycle.
For businesses and consumers, this technology provides unprecedented transparency. When a construction company purchases carbon-negative aggregates, or a manufacturer buys bio-derived olefins, the Digital Carbon Passport will provide verifiable data proving the material’s origin and its net carbon impact. This tracking mechanism is crucial for preventing greenwashing, ensuring that companies can accurately report their scope 3 emissions, and allowing governments to verify that industries are meeting their regulatory targets. For researchers and engineers, these passports will highlight areas in the supply chain where carbon efficiency can be further optimized.
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Support the UK’s Net-Zero Economic Goals
The transition away from fossil fuels cannot happen at the expense of the UK economy. Together, the chemicals, construction, and plastics sectors support nearly three million jobs and contribute more than £90 billion in economic value. The CIRCARB programme is designed to protect and enhance this economic contribution while aligning it with the UK’s legally binding net-zero targets.
Dr Jonathan Wagner, Reader in Circular Economy Engineering at Loughborough University, emphasizes the importance of this cross-sector approach. By working across multiple industries, researchers can transfer knowledge and optimize the allocation of limited sustainable resources to maximize their impact. For example, waste heat from a chemical catalysis process might be utilized in the creation of carbon-negative construction aggregates, demonstrating how industrial symbiosis can drive both economic and environmental benefits.
Dr Muhammad Imran, the CIRCARB project lead and a reader in energy systems at Aston University, notes that resolving the emissions embedded in materials requires a rigorous systems approach. The inclusion of over 26 industry partners ensures that the solutions developed by Loughborough University and other academic institutions are commercially viable and ready for rapid deployment at an industrial scale.
Pursue a Career in Environmental Research at Loughborough University
Large-scale initiatives like the CIRCARB programme highlight the growing demand for highly skilled engineers, chemists, and sustainability experts who understand both the technical and systemic challenges of fossil fuel replacement. For prospective students and early-career researchers, participating in a university that actively secures and leads major EPSRC grants provides a distinct advantage.
Studying at an institution involved in this caliber of environmental research means students gain exposure to cutting-edge methodologies, from advanced catalysis and bio-processing to digital supply chain tracking. Furthermore, the strong links with industry partners provide direct pathways to employment in sectors that are actively hiring talent to help them navigate the green transition. The skills developed in circular economy engineering are becoming fundamental requirements across the UK’s industrial base.
Submit your application today to join a research community that is actively shaping the future of sustainable energy and industrial decarbonization.
The shift away from fossil-derived carbon is a complex, multi-generational engineering challenge. Through targeted environmental research and strategic industry partnerships, Loughborough University is providing the technical foundations required to make a circular, sustainable industrial economy a practical reality in the UK.
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