Food and Circular Economy South West: All Partners Workshop

Researchers from the Business School, LEEP and Engineering have recently launched an innovative 2-year project, “Food and the Circular Economy in the South West”, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

They will be exploring the opportunities and challenges for SME food and drink processors, specifically bakery and dairy processors, in the South West in transitioning towards the circular economy (CE) – as well as evaluating the CE concept itself. This interdisciplinary research focuses on how processors can retain and circulate maximum value from resources (of all kinds) during use, eliminate avoidable waste and reuse or recycle unavoidable waste. There are more details about the project on the 'Food and the Circular Economy - South West' website.

To raise awareness of our work and to help boost its impact across the region and beyond, we will be holding a free event with our industrial partners. While our focus is on SMEs we would be delighted to see businesses of all sizes within the bakery and dairy sectors coming along.

The event will be held in the afternoon on Friday 3 March 2017 at Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI), University of Exeter Penryn campus, Cornwall, TR10 9FE. George Eustice, MP for Camborne and Redruth and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Farming, Food and the Marine Environment, will give the keynote address.

The event (for up to 50 attendees) will begin with a free buffet lunch from 12.45pm, followed by the keynote speech at 2pm. It will be chaired by Professor Matt Lobley from LEEP. The project leader, Professor Steffen Boehm, will update participants on progress so far, giving a short introduction to the CE and why it is relevant to the food and drink sector now. Participants will be invited to undertake a practical activity to offer a sense of the project. We would also look to explore new collaborations within the sector (i.e. beyond the immediate EPSRC project). We expect the events to finish at 4pm.

This is an invitation-only event restricted to local businesses within the dairy or bakery sector. Should a business wish to attend, please email the event organiser Dan Eatherley d.eatherley@exeter.ac.uk  for more information.