Overview

Chemical engineering can provide new processes and products, but it is also a main component of the emerging field of Industrial Ecology (IE) by applying chemical engineering thinking to physical stocks and flows in the economy.

Sustainable development is conceived, for example in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as a process of social development subject to techno-economic and ecological constraints, rather than merely economic growth. This interpretation requires a re-evaluation of the role of engineering, and particularly chemical engineering. Chemical engineering can provide new processes and products, but it is also a main component of the emerging field of Industrial Ecology (IE) by applying chemical engineering thinking to physical stocks and flows in the economy - ie “chemical engineering outside the pipe”. Examples to show the value of this approach are:

• consumer plastics, where IE analysis shows why a closed-loop economy for plastics is impossible without energy-from-waste processes
• durable and manufactured goods, where IE shows that product service life is more important than recycling and so requires re-evaluation of the popular idea of a “circular economy”
•  management of scarce materials, where IE helps to guide regulatory approaches.

For those wishing to attend the annual meeting in person, please register here and we will send you joining instructions, including a map nearer the time.

Committee vacancies

We are seeking nominations for the Co-chair, Treasurer, Webmaster, Newsletter Editor and Outreach Co-ordinator roles and nominations are now open for these positions. We request that all those submitting nominations attend the annual meeting.

Please note that all committee members must be a current member of IChemE, and for the positions of Chair and Treasurer must also be a current Chartered Chemical Engineer at Member or Fellow grade, or in rare cases actively working towards Chartered Membership.

Nominations will close Friday 17 February 2023 at 17:00 GMT.

Submit your nomination >>

Presenter

Dr Pablo Garcia-Trinanes, Chair, London and South East Coast Members Group

Dr Garcia-Trinanes will chair the Annual Meeting and introduce the guest speaker.

Speaker

Roland Clift, Emeritus Professor, Centre for Environment and Sustainability, University of Surrey (UK) and Dept. of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia (Canada)

One of the pioneers of life cycle assessment and industrial ecology. 

Professor Clift was a lecturer at Cambridge from 1976 to 1981. He then moved to the University of Surrey as Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. In 1992, he founded the Centre for Environmental Strategy (CES) at Surrey, now the Centre for Environment and Sustainability, as a transdisciplinary research centre embracing engineering and the natural and social sciences. He is now an Emeritus Professor at Surrey and Adjunct Professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of British Columbia, Canada.

Since 1992, he has focussed on the use of chemical engineering principles to underpin the transition to a more sustainable economy, primarily as a component of the emerging discipline of industrial ecology. He has served as both President and Executive Director of the International Society for Industrial Ecology. In 2017, he was awarded the George E. Davis medal of the Institution of Chemical Engineers for his work on the application of chemical engineering in industrial ecology and sustainability.

His experience in advising government bodies includes: Review Editor and contributing Chapter Author for the 5th Assessment Report of the (UN) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); ten years as a member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution; Member of the Science Advisory Council of the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA); and Specialist Advisor to the Science and Technology Committee of the House of Lords. He has acted as environmental consultant to a number of major companies.

The material presented in this webinar has not been peer-reviewed. Any opinions are the presenters' own and do not necessarily represent those of IChemE or the London and South East Coast Members Group. The information is given in good faith but without any liability on the part of IChemE.

Time

18:30–20:30 GMT.

Agenda

• 18:30–19:30 - Annual Meeting
• 19:30–20:30 - Talk from Prof Clift, including 15 minutes Q&A

Software

The presentation will be delivered via GoToWebinar®. Check system requirements.

You are advised to join the webinar at least ten minutes before the scheduled start time, to allow for your computer to connect.

Webinar archive

This webinar is free of charge and open to all to attend, but if you wish to access the slides and a recording to replay on demand then you will need to be a member of the London and South East Coast Members Group.