1) The document discusses Innovate UK, the UK's innovation agency which invests over £440m annually in UK innovation to stimulate business-led innovation and accelerate economic growth. 2) It outlines Innovate UK's focus areas including resource efficiency, which aims to reduce material usage, substitute environmentally unsound materials, and encourage a more circular economy where materials are kept in productive use through various means. 3) Key initiatives are described such as the Great Recovery project exploring barriers to circular business models, and competitions around recovering valuable materials from waste and exploring business models for a product to service shift to retain value.

1. Delivering the inner loops of a circular
economy
Nick Cliffe – Lead Technologist Resource Efficiency
07824 865 262
nick.cliffe@innovateuk.gov.uk
@moriati23

2. Who we are
• We are the UK’s innovation agency - a national body set up by government
• We are responsible for investing over £440m each year in UK innovation
• We work across business, universities and government
Our aim is simple...
...to accelerate economic growth by stimulating and
supporting business-led innovation

3. 8000 companies
Networks have >90,000 members
Over 100 competitions, committing ~£250m
More than 2000 years of business experience
60% of our grants go to small businesses

4. What we do...
• We help strengthen the global competitive position of our leading
businesses
• We identify and grow sectors and businesses with the capacity to
become the best in the world
• We nurture the businesses that can succeed in the growth sectors
of tomorrow.
We consider...
• Can the UK do it?
• Is the idea ‘ready’?
• Is there a large market opportunity?
• Can we make a difference?

5. We can help with....
• Funding
• Business & investment support
• Connections
• Networks

6. ... through many different routes
Collaborative
R&D
Smart Launchpad
Innovation &
Knowledge Centres
Catalyst
Access to finance
Access to knowledge
Access to equipment and skills

7. What areas do we work in?
Anticipated expenditure per area in 2014-15

11. • Resource constraints
- For minerals, metals etc absolute scarcity is rare but
impacts of exploitation are increasingly a constraint
- For biotic resources constraints include competing
resource uses, carrying capacity, and impacts of
exploitation
• Materials security
- Risk of supply interruption/non-availability for specific
materials, including many used in clean-tech/hi-tech
applications
• EU list of 20 critical raw materials
• Climate change
- Resource efficiency as a means to manage embedded
carbon
Resource Efficiency: key drivers

12. Resource Efficiency programme
Cuts across the strategy and programmes of Innovate UK
Addresses:
• reducing the quantity of materials used in products
• substituting materials that are environmentally unsound or
where long term supplies are insecure with better alternatives
• encouraging a more circular economy, where materials are
kept in productive use for longer by repair, re-use,
remanufacture and recycling.

13. Raw Materials Manufacture
Design
Distribution Use End-of-Life
repair
reuse
remanufacture
recycle
reduce
or
replace
Context for Resource Efficiency

14. horizons.innovateuk.org

15. The Great Recovery
• Building networks of designers, materials experts and end-of-
life businesses
• Exploring barriers to moving to circular business models
• Hub space in London FabLab to develop ideas
www.greatrecovery.org.uk

16. Circular Economy Value Networks
• Circular Economy approaches are as much about ‘business
models’ and (new) networks as about technology innovation.
• Value Networks are connected and aligned business models.
• Highly disruptive to current way of business but can enable
larger opportunities than a business can manage alone.
• Must provide benefits to the customer.

18. Recovering Valuable Materials from Waste
• January 2015
• £4.5m CR&D competition
• Reprocessors need quality, quantity and consistency of input
and output
• Support to develop new processes for continuously
produced waste streams to maximise value
• Materials not energy
• Up to £800k, 24 months

19. product to service shift...

21. A collaborative Feasibility Study competition to explore the
business case for retaining value in goods through reuse,
remanufacture or leasing/repair.
 Up to £800k available
 Projects £25 – 50k and 6 months duration
 Led by a business owning the relationship with the final
customer
 Development of new ‘value networks’ expected
 Output should be a business case and pilot project plan
 A second round to fund a small number of pilots is
proposed
Circular Economy: Business Models

22. Circular Economy: Business Models
• Durable goods
• Focus on inner loops
• Repair, Reuse & Remanufacture
• Customer relationship is key
• Explore the business case
Manufacturer
‘re’-
organisation
‘Retailer’
customer

24. reuse

25. reuse

26. reuse

27. remanufacture

28. remanufacture

29. remanufacture  leasing

30. Stay in touch...
• www.innovateuk.org/funding-competitions
• ktn.innovateuk.org – join sectors of interest
• Twitter:
–@innovate_uk