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Your Circular Journey Webinar Series

Overview of SIR Webinar Series 5th – 8th October 2020

SIR hosted four hour-long webinars looking at different aspects of remanufacturing and the circular economy in the manufacturing sector.

We started with a presentation from Dr Winifred Ijomah, Technical Director of SIR, who took us back to basics and explained the concept of remanufacturing, how the process works and the way in which it can be adopted as a strategy in business.

Prof Umit Bititci from Heriot-Watt University posed the question ‘Productivity vs Circular Economy: Is it a Competition?’ using evidence from a wide range of business collaborations, Umit outlined the tensions that exist between demonstrating success through productivity, and remanufacturing or circular economy strategies. The audience were left to ponder whether or not it is necessary to rethink our understanding of productivity in the context of the circular economy.

Sarah Kelly from British Standards Institute (BSi) talked us through the development of standards in relation to various aspects of remanufacturing, and invited the audience to join in the discussions and help shape future standards in this area.

Finally, we heard from two manufacturers who have been on quite different circular journeys. Geoff Sampson from Circulogic and Geoff Crawley from Highland Galvanisers both painted a clear picture of the challenges and benefits experienced in their respective businesses, offering advice to those wishing to pursue a circular economy driven strategy or project, and also highlighting what needs to be done to support industry to make these decisions.

Over the course of the week we had over 80 participants spanning many industries, from academia and support agencies, and from across the world.

If you missed out, please feel free to send us any questions or comments, which we can pass onto the speakers. Email sir-enquiries@strath.ac.uk or Contact Us.

Look out for our next Webinar Series coming soon!