CALMARE – round-up of the year
Whether it’s advising on sustainable materials for an interactive, educational board game or investigating recycling or reuse routes for computer towers, CALMARE has worked on a whole host of diverse projects in 2014. And, with more than 100 projects started in 2014, and more in the pipeline for next year, we thought it would be a great opportunity to look back on the centre’s achievements over the past year.
Helping businesses
From pet catheter development to wool composites for chairs, model train tracks to plastic lava lamps, CALMARE’s growing team has assisted a number of businesses with a range of product development projects, as well as supporting initiatives such as remanufacturing investigations, feasibility studies and waste / recycling reviews. Projects we have worked on include investigating recycled PVC options for F-boards range of scaffolding planks, feasibility studies into the separation of twin shot injection moulding waste for Hymid and alternative material options for components of Natural Mat’s natural fibre and organic mattresses.
We have been able to work on these diverse projects thanks to our funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the recruitment of several new team members, including Business Engagement Specialists Stuart Monk, Mike Thompson and James Bradbury, as well as Technical Research Assistant Elliot Nelson and Events and Marketing Officer Katya Romankevich.
Opening up facilities
As part of CALMARE’s services, the centre has engaged with businesses, to open up access to the facilities and expertise it has available within the team and the wider Exeter Technologies Group. In 2015, this is set to continue, with an even greater focus on providing easy access and good customer service to companies. As part of this, the centre will be offering a number of knowledge exchange workshops and open sessions in the first few months of the year, on areas such as material characterisation and spectroscopy. The many successful events held this year including an Introduction to Plastics, Waste Management and Recycling and its first Inline Spectroscopy Quality Control workshop. What’s more, back in March, the centre held a successful launch event, attracting about 60 delegates from the South West and beyond, from manufacturing companies, product development start-ups and a host of other partners and supporters.
Circular Economy
One of the overriding themes for the group over the last 12 months has been that of the Circular Economy, and many of the projects have involved aspects that contribute to the overall idea of this emerging business model.
This year has seen the formation of the Circular Economy Business Forum, a collaboration between the University of Exeter’s Business School, CALMARE and business representatives. The forum meets to discuss how the University can engage with businesses and help make the dream a reality. Future plans for the Circular Economy team and CALMARE include workshops and events, ongoing innovation clubs and individual feasibility studies.
Inspiration through the creative industries
In order to inspire these businesses and also the wider public, CALMARE is collaborating with artists from all over the South West to hold an art from waste exhibition in May 2015. Based on the concept of a circular economy – reusing materials and other goods instead of throwing them away – the exhibition will be entitled From Cowboys to Astronauts. The title illustrates a move away from a wasteful, “cowboy economy”, with seemingly boundless resources, to a “spaceship economy”. This idea is based on a concept used throughout the 20th century, called “Spaceship Earth”, which envisaged Earth as a spaceship with limited resources on board. The exhibition will demonstrate to businesses and members of the public just what is possible when we move away from a throwaway mind-set.
The exhibition follows three sold out knowledge exchange workshops, which were hosted by CALMARE in the autumn. Comprising presentations from various speakers, networking and discussion opportunities, and a tour of the CALMARE facilities, the workshops were designed to spark debate and encourage participants to think about the issues of waste, recycling and re-use.
Doing our bit – Green Impact and the Community Challenge
As part of our ongoing commitment to help reduce waste and lead by example, we took part in the national environmental accreditation and awards scheme, Green Impact, run at local level by the University. In working towards a bronze award, which we achieved in June, we had to undertake a number of activities to meet the criteria. This included our Community Challenge, a beach clean with the National Trust Countryside Team in South Devon, who we assisted in a litter pick at South Milton Sands and the surrounding area, as well as putting a range of initiatives and processes in place for the team. This autumn, we started working towards the Gold Award, which we are hoping to achieve in summer 2015.