Manchester Metropolitan University

Part of our Profiled Universities

Location: Manchester, United Kingdom

Focus area: Circular economyCircular economyA systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. It is based on three principles, driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature. research and innovation; circular economy education; commercialization and implementation of circular economy solutions

Expertise: Material, product and process innovation; circular business models; circular design; food waste; industrial symbiosis; education for sustainable development

Education: Teaching and Learning

Manchester Metropolitan University is committed to embedding circular economy throughout its teaching and learning activities. We were one of the first higher education providers to become an NUS Responsible Futures Accredited institution and have been accredited since 2015. The integration of Education for Sustainable Development and Carbon Literacy into courses is supported through the university’s Environmental Education Fund, activities and workshops organised by the university’s Sustainable and Ethical Enterprise Group (SEEG), and the provision of training, such as the University Teaching Academy’s ‘Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Global Citizenship, and Curriculum Development’. 

Leading examples where circular economy is promoted through Manchester Metropolitan University’s undergraduate and postgraduate courses include:

• BSc Fashion Marketing: This undergraduate course has a particularly strong emphasis on the circular economy, and the influence that sustainable business models have on the environment and on the relationship with the customer throughout the course.

• MA Emergent Technologies: This course provides students with an advanced understanding of ‘tech for social good’, including decentralisation, the sharing economy, and the role of digital arts as a catalyst for sustainable futures.

• BSc Product Design Engineering: This course offers a ‘Sustainable Design’ unit that equips students in designing products for a sustainable future, including the ​​selection of appropriate materials and technologies, as well as lifecycle analysis.

Additionally, an online module on circular economy is being made available to all students and staff throughout the university via the university’s award-winning RISE programme.   

Manchester Metropolitan University also contributes to wider circular economy education by sharing externally facing teaching and learning resources, such as the ‘Circular Economy and Waste Education Guide for Universities’.

Research & Leadership

Manchester Metropolitan University is engaged in a wide range of exciting regional, national and international research projects, supporting the transition to a more sustainable, circular economy. Current key projects include:

TRANSFORM-CE: Manchester Metropolitan University leads this €6.93m Interreg North West Europe funded project exploring the application of additive manufacturing and intrusion-extrusion moulding to recyclerecycleTransform a product or component into its basic materials or substances and reprocessing them into new materials. single-use-plastic waste into new, valuable products and create innovative circular economy business models.

ShaRepair: An Interreg North West Europe funded project that aims to reduce the prevalence of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) by empowering citizens to repair their products using technologies, such as digital design and 3D-printing.

REDUCES: An Interreg Europe funded project that aims to identify, analyse and document exemplary circular economy business models, whilst critically assessing their impact in terms of both climate change and sustainability.

CIRMAP: An Interreg North-West Europe funded project that explores the localised processing of demolition waste into recycled fine aggregates for the construction of new structures using concrete 3D printing.

LevWave: An Innovate UK funded project that aims to identify new circular economy and industrial symbiosis opportunities for the UK’s paper industry, facilitating the co-production of valuable bulk chemicals and solid chars from levulinic acid, a by-product in paper pulp effluents.

ECO-I North West: A European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) funded research and development program supporting businesses across the Northwest of England to develop and adopt innovative, low carbon technologies, products, and services, including circular economy solutions.

Strengthening collaborative food waste prevention in Colombia and Peru: towards responsible production and consumption: Working with partners in Colombia and Peru, Manchester Metropolitan University academics are investigating food resource management challenges, facilitating stakeholder awareness, and boosting food waste distribution efforts through this project funded by the QR Global Challenges Research Fund.

BIO PLASTICS EUROPE: A Horizon 2020 funded project exploring the potential for bio-based and biodegradable plastics to provide a renewable alternative to traditional, petroleum-based plastics.

Campus Management

‘Sustainability is embedded into our campus, practices, and processes to help achieve our zero carbon targets, maximise social value, and future proof our organisation.’

Manchester Metropolitan University is one of the most sustainable universities in the UK, ranked as a top three performing university for sustainability in the People and Planet University League for almost a decade.

Connect with

Rhiannon Hunt, Circular Economy Project Manager, (rhiannon.hunt@mmu.ac.uk)

(General Enquiries) Circular Economy at Manchester Metropolitan University, (circulareconomy@mmu.ac.uk)

Find out more

• Circular Economy Network  

• Sustainability at Manchester Metropolitan University