Materials Technologist: Novel Glasses

*The project is for 2 years but a longer term position at the company may be an option upon successful completion of the project

The Project 

This 24-month project will embed advanced materials expertise in order to explore innovative solutions to support the Company in its aims to find new and alternative applications for its mineral by-products.

In order to meet its Net Zero commitments and develop new opportunities, the company partner, FCC Environment, wishes to develop and assess options for re-use of its by-products in a range of sectors which would enable these materials to be re-used and not landfilled or sent to low-value applications, with the range of environmental and economic benefits this would bring.

In particular, the Company is interested in exploring opportunities for producing novel foamed glass products, which can be used in a variety of high-volume construction-related applications, using the Company’s existing by-products and Air Pollution Control residues (APCr’s) from energy production facilities as raw materials / feedstock. These may include residues from treatment of municipal waste, paper, card, waste wood, biomass (straw, wood), poultry litter and MBM, wastewater treatment sludge, and others, as will be identified and studied during the project.

This project will focus on developing a detailed understanding of routes by which achieving the above goals may be feasible through detailed understanding of the Company partner’s by-products, their sources, nature and variabilities; and by careful design and development of foamed glass materials obtained by processing them. These outcomes will be developed through benchmarking and lab-scale analyses, foamed glass preparation and raw materials trials, leading to scale-up and full-scale trials and implementation, as deemed appropriate by the company partner. The Associate will develop a detailed understanding of the company, its products, processes and people; and of the factors which bear upon the project. Cost-benefit analyses will be undertaken to help to underpin any commercial decisions by the company in the longer-term, and the project will help shape and guide scale-up and full-scale trials using the candidate approaches developed.

The Company Partner

FCC Environment was created in 2012 when Focsa Services (UK) and Waste Recycling Group (both part of global infrastructure, environmental services and energy group FCC Citizen Services) came together under a new brand.

FCC Environment is one of the world’s largest environmental services companies, which has activities throughout Europe, Africa, North and South America. The company serves nearly 19 million citizens and manages 6.4 million tonnes of waste and generates 117 MWE of green energy.

It employs nearly 2,400 people across the UK and operates a wide range of facilities that aim to minimise the amount of waste disposed of to landfill, processing the material to ensure it reaches its full potential as a valuable resource to meet the needs of its customers.

Position

The Associate will be employed by Sheffield Hallam University and will be based for the majority of the project at the University but with a significant amount of time spent embedded within the Company partner to enable detailed understanding of its structure, materials and processes.

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