Recycle Week Summary

The week of the 22nd was Recycle Week. Since promoting interest in the environment is one of my responsibilities, I was given the time for this during Friday’s morning talk As a scientist, what interests me more than anything is solutions to difficult problems So that’s what I focussed my talk on: solutions. The thesis of my talk was how recycling is broader than you may think.

Recycling many materials like steel or organic matter mainly stays within its own sectors I investigated an industry where this isn’t the case. The whiskey industry uses giant copper tanks for distillation Alongside whiskey a protein rich residue is also produced, which would be ideal as animal feedstock. But due to container leaching this residue is full of toxic copper ions. Using magnetite - an iron compound - more than 99% of copper is recovered by adsorption or “sticking” to the iron surface Copper can then be separated from the residue magnetically This innovation adds two value added resources to the whiskey industry, a food for animals and copper, which is an extremely versatile metal and critical for the green energy transition

Additionally, I got into contact with Dr Thackray from the University of Sheffield and Prof. Jones from Imperial College London and asked them to show how their research related to recycling, in the form of an optional “Lunch & Learn” talk. Dr Thackray spoke about steel, aircraft alloys and new techniques to make components with less waste. He delved into steel recycling and its various challenges Prof Jones spoke about glass and various smart materials, which had applications in a range of fields from toothpaste, bone healing and making special bird safe windows - using Ornilux glass He also discussed why plastic bottles “won” despite glasses' environmental benefits Finally, he also spoke about the recycling of wind turbine blades and the associated challenges.

I have to thank the researchers for giving up their time to educate others; Lizzie and Mike for helping behind the scenes; everyone who attended the Lunch & Learn; the other Major Officials; Colin Knight and Flora Barton This event wouldn’t have succeeded without the support of these people.