Centre for Environment and Sustainability, University of Surrey
Practitioner Doctorate in Sustainability: Project Brief
Project Title: Life Cycle Assessment: Composite Materials and Products
Sponsoring organisation: National Composites Centre

Project Aims
Fibre reinforced polymer composite materials have the potential to reduce through life environmental impact significantly, in particular due to reduced weight, resulting in lower fuel consumption and improved corrosion resistance, resulting in less maintenance and longer life. However, the embodied energy of raw materials can be high, and recycling at end of life is not straightforward.

In order for the industry to maximise the benefits associated with composites, the advantages that they bring in comparison to traditional materials need to be clearly communicated to customers, government and wider stakeholders. Life cycle assessment (LCA) affords the opportunity to do this, but the current state of the art is often confusing for non-practitioners and prohibitively expensive for SMEs.

To achieve this, a body of work is necessary in drawing together the key factors that affect LCA in products and more specifically composites and produce a series of guidelines that can be based on the ISO 14000 series. In particular, communication should focus on the different “entry levels” of LCA moving from the simplified client versions such as LCA Calculator or CES to the advanced database packages such as GaBi and SimaPro. This will be followed up by a series of talks and training events for the composites industry in order to enable this material to be widely implemented.

Project Deliverables
Background
Where not already familiar, the PDS student will allowed time to understand composite processing techniques and materials. A preliminary project has been carried out at the NCC to investigate the current state of the art, and the techniques used by OEMs, regulatory bodies, government etc. internationally. The available data sources and LCA tools, including simplified models, will be assessed and compared in terms of effectiveness. These will form the basis of a literature review.

Product Category Rules
Develop product category rules (PCR) considering implications of: boundary conditions, weighting of categories for composites, what impacts are typically small for composite products so can reasonably be ignored? What are the areas of greatest impact? Look at translating the impact categories that can be measured into meaningful metrics: Land usage, eutrophication etc. which need contextualisation

Case Studies
Develop case studies from different sectors: To demonstrate how to undertake both basic and advanced LCA, to demonstrate differences between different data sources / software / approaches, chosen to demonstrate benefits of composites compared to traditional materials. These will be facilitated through the NCC’s membership and project activities.

Best Practice Guide
Using the above, create a Best Practice Guide which, in clear language: Explains how to do a full LCA in accordance with ISO 14044, Identifies sources of data relevant to composites and highlights significant variations, Recommends and explains a simplified LCA route with associated boundaries, providing a sound basis for Product Category Rules, Clearly explains the implications of boundary conditions and highlights areas of greatest impact in the life cycle and material constituents of a composite product, Presents the case studies in form of full LCA and simplified versions, Includes brief comment on social and economic sustainability, referring to BS 8900 and other literature (not to be covered in depth) and short section on life cycle costing referring any standards / guides for cost benefit analysis and Aligns with overseas work general LCA best practice as far as possible.

Publically Available Specification (PAS) The project will develop a publically available specification with the British Standards Institute (BSI), to provide accessible guidance on how to approach LCA for composites, with a view to make assessments from multiple sources more comparable.

Dissemination / Training Events Presentations for disseminating the Guide and best practice, demystifying LCA, etc, to run alongside other events (e.g. run by Composites UK, HVMC, KTN, etc) as a free resource to introduce industry to the topic. Develop courses to give in-depth training in LCA best practice, to provide a sustainable training resource beyond the project.

Methodologies
Use Life Cycle approaches to assess and identify innovative technologies that promote circular economy.

Person specification

•  English proficiency
•  Masters level or equivalent in Engineering, Materials Science, Product Design, or Environmental Subjects
•  Work experience outside of academic institutes is desirable, particularly experience with composite materials or the manufacturing industry would be beneficial
•  A passion for the environment and sustainability essential
•  Inquisitive nature
•  Ability to work independently
•  Strong communication skills are necessary and evidence of stakeholder engagement at all levels is required.
•  The candidate must be able to display a capacity for independent thought, as well as a pragmatic attitude to working within industry

Applications
All applications must be emailed to pds@surrey.ac.uk and include all of the following documentation to be considered:

•  Up to date cv
•  Cover letter including why this project is of interest and how your experience and interests make you a suitable candidate.
•  Degree certificates and transcripts
•  References – 2x academic references or 1x academic reference and 1x other reference

PROJECT POSITIONING WITHIN ORGANSATION AND IMPACT
The NCC is the centre for innovation in composites manufacturing. Proudly one of seven UK High Value Manufacturing Catapult centres , with a highly regarded internationally reputation, we play a vital role accelerating the growth of the UK’s advanced manufacturing output, bridging academia and industry to change the world of composites manufacturing and application. We collaborate with a diversity of industrial customers
and cultivate the engineers of tomorrow, working closely with a variety of universities, and others, to deliver world-class training.

Our growth isn’t slowing. Now with over 300 employees and an annual turnover of £25m, we’re undergoing a fresh phase of development with a capability acquisition program worth over £37m. As our capabilities develop, so too will the breadth and diversity of our customers, their opportunities and requirements, the knowledge and experience of our staff, and our role in defining the future of composites.

The NCC is seeing an increase in demand for sustainable solutions to engineering challenges, and the assessment of environmental impact is vital to achieving this. A new research group with a focus on sustainability was set up in April 2017 and has expanded steadily since its inception. Life cycle assessment forms a core capability of the group, and the role of this practitioner doctorate project is to provide expertise to develop methods and improve international consensus on carrying out LCA for composite materials and products. The industrial scale manufacturing research capabilities at the NCC make it ideally placed to generate and collate new data through its equipment and industrial partners.

Key Dates and Information
This project is due to begin in October 2018. The successful candidate will spend an initial 11 weeks in Guildford, UK undertaking intensive sustainability and personal development training, after which they will be predominately based at the National Composites Centre (NCC), Bristol, UK.

The programme will run for four years.

The successful candidate will receive a generous stipend of £18,000 per annum throughout this time (with potential to increase to c. £20,000 per annum after two years). Stipends are usually tax-free and DPs will also benefit from an additional £500 p.a. allowance for attendance at conferences etc. In addition to this, full-time tuition fees (£4,195) will be covered at the current Home/EU rate for the duration of the programme.
The deadline for applications is Monday 21st May and Interviews for this post will take place on Wednesday 30th May 2018 in Bristol or via Skype.