About the Sustainable Manufacturing Research Group
The Sustainable Manufacturing Group was established, in collaboration with the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), to promote and advance sustainable manufacturing practices. Rooted in the UK’s industrial heartlands, the group combines two world-class institutions with the breadth of industry in the Midlands to ensure innovative research meets industrial application.
Our members are experts in decarbonisation, energy efficiency, and resource optimisation within manufacturing. Our mission is to ensure that the manufacturing sector evolves to meet future demands while positioning the UK as a global leader in green manufacturing.
The Sustainable Manufacturing Group provides subject matter expertise, multidisciplinary research and development activities, including:
- Design for Sustainability: Reducing environmental impacts through responsible design strategies
- Material & Energy flow analysis
- Lifecycle Analysis: Assessing environmental impacts across product lifecycles
- Industrial Photonics: Exploring light-based technologies for advanced manufacturing
- Surface Engineering: Designing, generating, and characterising surfaces for applications including batteries, self-cleaning, biomedical, and life extension
- End-of-life analysis and supply chain development for renewable energy and transportation
- Decommissioning of complex equipment including commercial aircraft and wind turbines
- Green chemistry: Recovery and reuse of polymers
- Repair and remanufacturing of high value assets
- Upgrade and life extension strategies
- Circular Economy and Industrial symbiosis: Opportunity assessment, technology development and evaluation
- Novel subtractive and additive photonics-based manufacturing technologies
- Hybrid manufacturing solutions, aimed at enabling sustainable manufacturing technologies for a wide range of industries such as medical devices, engineered functional surfaces, and enhanced tooling for mass produced polymer components