South Wales With Both Eyes Open: A Fast Start Project

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The proposed is a research and development project that aims to bring multiple stakeholders within the Foundation Industry South Wales Region together to analyze material and energy flows and identify potential opportunities for collaboration. Funding will support an industrial circular economy vision that will open new opportunities for improved energy and resource efficiency.Currently there are information silos among companies operating within the region, which prevents the realization of operational synergies that could be possible through the co-location of industrial facilities. ERM will act as an intermediary organisation to facilitate information transfer and research partners will contribute innovative ideas, which will be used to develop an action plan for cooperation between facilities. Funding will support the first phase of the project, which will involve relationship building, co-mapping material and energy flows, exploring the application of existing literature, and developing an action plan of future commercial opportunities.**"Value for money"** is to Foundation Industry partners involved, the South Wales economy and the National/Global economy (contributing to the development of circular economies more broadly). Wales has the lowest productivity of any region of the UK. WRAP suggests cost savings of up to £2.0bn a year could be achieved by transitioning to a circular economy. A circular economy model could move South Wales towards less dependency on raw materials and achieving global-sustainable-development-goals, specifically related to reduction of raw materials and associated impacts on biodiversity/ emissions, contributing towards climate change.There are clearly many unidentified market opportunities, which the region has yet to explore, which this project will help identify. This includes:1. Precious metals recovery2. Plastics recycling3. Food/oils/agricultural/bio-wastes recycling and energy recovery4. Water abstraction reduction, reuse/recycling amongst sectors/local-communities5. Waste heat networks/heat recovery6. Local energy networks/community projects7. Meeting the need for energy storage and peak demands8. Shared facilities - to benefit both industries and communities.9. Shared services (accounting/legal/etc)10. New supply chainsWales is second best in the world at Recycling rates, this project will help to build off that attribute to support the Foundation Industries in the region.With this funding, industry would be able to provide a forum for companies to come together to explore these opportunities - getting the right people around the table to explore the potential projects. This initiative also perfectly aligns to the Welsh and UK Government circular economy objectives and sustainability, to be 'zero waste' by 2050\.