RGU News Article Date Posted: 25-Aug-2006 Valid Until: 25-Sep-2006
RGU to evaluate government funded industrial ecology programme
Abhi (right) with Peter Laybourn, Director of NISP
RGU is evaluating the effectiveness of, the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP) which is a government funded business opportunity programme
Industrial symbiosis is part of the emerging field of industrial ecology. It is concerned with the flow of materials and energy through local, regional and national economies and aims to increase business performance whilst reducing pollution and waste.
NISP, the first industrial symbiosis initiative in the world to be launched on a national scale, brings together separate industries and other organizations in a collective approach.
The programme is already delivering substantial commercial, economic and social benefits to companies throughout the UK. Between April 2005 and March 2006, NISP has diverted more than 1.6 million tonnes of industrial waste from landfill sites and reduced CO2 emissions by a million tonnes. In addition, NISP has collectively saved its members more than £145 million and generated £65 million in new sales.
RGU PhD student Abhishek Agarwal and project supervisor Dr. Peter Strachan will collaborate with NISP during the research, worth £10,000 to the University. They have been contracted through Market Research Consultancy Databuild Ltd as part of a larger project to appraise NISP and develop ways to evaluate their performance.
As part of his PhD, Abhishek also aims to explore national policy and regional context of industrial symbiosis projects with the intention of contributing to the strategic development of such initiatives and to develop a new and integrative model suitable for adoption by academics and practitioners to evaluate the effectiveness of industrial symbiosis networks.
NISP is part funded by the Department of Environmental, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) through its Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) Programme.
For more information about the project contact Abhishek Agarwal on 01224 263976, email: prs.agarwal@rgu.ac.uk
Press ReleaseRGU to evaluate government funded industrial ecology programme
