Skip to main content

Circular Materials and Life-Cycle Innovation across FIVE-C Sectors

Organised by: FIVE-C Network, University of Salford – 2nd September @ Manchester Metropolitan University

Executive Summary

The FIVE-C Network one-day symposium will run within the International Conference MSSM 2026 and will focus on the theme ‘Circular Materials and Life-Cycle Innovation across FIVE-C Sectors.’
This event will explore how circularity in materials can accelerate sustainable transformation across digital, construction, fashion & textiles, renewable energy and healthcare, bringing together both STEM and SHAPE researchers to address technical, social, economic and cultural dimensions in equal measure.

Rationale

The MSSM conference foregrounds the design, development, performance, applications and life cycles of advanced materials. Circular materials research is inherently cross-disciplinary: breakthroughs in chemistry, engineering and materials science must be understood alongside shifts in behaviour, governance, business models and cultural adoption.
This symposium will therefore create a rare platform where scientists, engineers, social scientists, designers and policy specialists engage on equal footing to examine how materials can be re-imagined, reused and reintegrated into sustainable value chains.

Aims

  • Showcase innovative technical research in circular materials — such as bio-based alternatives, recyclability by design, smart materials enabling reuse, and advanced recovery technologies.
  • Highlight social sciences and humanities perspectives — including life cycle assessment, industrial ecology, behavioural drivers, cultural acceptance, procurement practices, and governance frameworks.
  • Foster integrated dialogue across STEM and SHAPE, ensuring life-cycle analysis and socio-economic evaluation inform technical development, and conversely that social frameworks are grounded in the realities of materials science and engineering.
  • Identify opportunities for cross-sectoral learning: how lessons from construction deconstruction can inform healthcare procurement, or how digital tools and data infrastructures can support circularity in textiles or renewable energy.

Key Themes

  1. Life Cycle Thinking Across Disciplines – environmental, economic and social assessment of circular strategies, drawing from both engineering models and social science methodologies.
  2. Designing for Circularity – material innovations and design approaches that enable reuse, repair, remanufacture, and recycling.
  3. Recovery, Recycling & Reuse Technologies – STEM advances in recovery processes coupled with SHAPE insights into infrastructure, supply chains, and labour implications.
  4. Policy, Governance & Cultural Change – exploring how regulation, business models, consumer behaviour, and equity considerations enable or hinder circular adoption.
  5. Cross-Sector Innovation – systems approaches that connect circular practices across FIVE-C sectors, supported by both technical advances and social frameworks.

Format

The symposium will combine:

  • 1 keynote lecture
  • 2 lead presentations
  • 1 panel discussion
  • 10 contributed papers/presentations
  • 1 interactive roundtable

Each session will be deliberately balanced: STEM contributions (e.g. new materials, recovery processes) will be paired with SHAPE contributions (e.g. LCA, policy frameworks, cultural analysis) to ensure holistic dialogue. The format will encourage collaboration, co-authorship and knowledge exchange across disciplinary boundaries.