CENTRE FOR  MINERAL-BASED CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

The Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centre for Mineral-based Construction Materials (ICEC-MCM) focuses on improving the way we use materials such as aggregate, cement, brick, plasterboard, stone and glass, particularly in infrastructure. In the UK we use these materials at a rate of more than half a million tonnes per day, and they are by far the largest global material resource flow. The ICEC-MCM research programme addresses three Challenges:
1. characterising materials flows and their environmental, economic and social impacts, to enable informed housekeeping for prioritisation of interventions, and setting of targets;
2. technological innovation over the whole materials life cycle, to reduce use and impacts of virgin materials and energy,
3. the need for business, design, financial and policy tools, to enable change.
Each of our 15 postdoc and more than 30 PhD projects will lead to understanding or a method, with wider applicability to the Circular Economy, and also practically relevant knowledge or technology through implementation in a case study.

The ICEC-MCM aims to research construction materials stocks and flows to develop and deliver technologies to reduce demand and increase circularity for mineral based construction materials.