REPIC joined other North West Businesses and leading universities this month to honour and celebrate the success of recent eco innovations that have been developed by businesses in the region alongside leading universities.

Held at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester on 18th May 2023, the Eco-I North West (Eco-I NW) awards aimed to recognise the strides made by the collaborative projects to tackle climate change.

Delivered by a consortium of universities – Lancaster, Central Lancashire, Cumbria, Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores and Manchester Metropolitan – Eco-I NW is a research and development programme to create new sustainable technologies, products and services.

Over the course of the programme, it will have given more than 330 SMEs access to the extensive knowledge base, cutting-edge research facilities, built new networks to drive innovation, and supported the development of innovative solutions which will save 3,850 tonnes of CO2.

Awards on the night included  ‘Most impactful business innovation’, ‘Most promising new business”, ‘Carbon Journey’ and ‘Community Champion’.

REPIC was in attendance to see Matthew Bond from Lancaster University receive the ‘Most impactful postgraduate’ award for his work alongside us, which helped better quantify our downstream carbon footprint by understanding and quantifying the carbon footprint of the collection and recycling of WEEE.

Matthew said: “I am thrilled to have won the award. Eco-I North West has been an excellent opportunity for both the students and the businesses involved. I have greatly enjoyed contributing to the important research field of electronic waste, and highlighting the many benefits that optimising its recycling achieves from a carbon emissions perspective.”

Sarah Downes, Environmental Affairs Manager at REPIC said: “We were hugely impressed with Matthew, including the speed with which he picked up how the industry worked and the way he applied himself to the project. To get a student dedicated for 12 months for a focused R&D project directed to addressing our challenges, and underpinned by academic support and access to appropriate software and Life Cycle Inventories has been invaluable.”

Eco-I NW, which is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), was led by the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation (CGE) team at Lancaster University.

Commenting on the awards, Dr Andy Pickard, manager of the CGE, said: “Eco-I North West has been an incredibly successful programme which has showcased what can be achieved via collaborative research between academia and business.

“These awards have been a celebration of the impressive work by our six regional university partners, talented undergraduates and postgraduates, and hundreds of small and medium sized businesses.”

“Over the last three years we have created a melting pot of disruptive innovation, driven by collaboration which will continue long into the future. But if we are going to truly achieve the rapid transition to more sustainable economies and societies in the face of the climate emergency, we need to grow our network of collaborators. I would encourage businesses to connect with this region’s universities and start the conversation.”

Eco-I North West is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund.