ENVIRONMENTAL
TECHNOLOGY
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ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY IS POISED TO BECOME ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING BUSINESS SECTORS

IN NORTHWEST ENGLAND, AND FROM WASTE MANAGEMENT

TO WIND FARMS, RECYCLED PLASTICS TO CLEANER TECHNOLOGIES AND PROCESSES,

THE REGION IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE INDUSTRY.

Helping to lead growth is the Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC) which is
one of Europe's largest environmental research centres and incorporates the Natural Environment Research Council's (NERC) Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

LEC brings together more than 300 environmental researchers from natural and applied science, humanities, management research, and engineering.

The Northwest Environmental Technology and Services cluster employs 53,000 people in more than 1,500 companies and generates annual sales of around £1.3 billion.

  • Envirolink Northwest exists to promote, strengthen and support the environmental technology sector in the region playing a pivotal role in improving the competitiveness of companies and raising the profile of the sector in local, national and global markets.
  • The Northwest intends to become a leading player in environmental technology sharing in a global market worth £515 billion equivalent in scale to pharmaceuticals or aerospace and forecast to grow to £688 billion by 2010.
  • LEC is helping companies of all sizes, from two employees to several hundred, to expand their business through R&D and environmental compliance.
  • Dedicated facilities for business co-location within LEC opened in January 2007, enabling collaborative research and development with individuals and teams from across the University.
  • LEC works in partnership with businesses of all sizes in sectors as diverse as food production and engineering, agriculture, waste management and nuclear decommissioning. The diverse range of expertise both within the University and its partners provide an attractive location for businesses who recognise R&D as essential to their future success and survival.
  • LEC's latest venture is The North West Eco-Innovation programme, in partnership with C-Tech Innovation Ltd. The programme will work with over 480 businesses over 3 years to exploit the market opportunities created by climate change and the mainstream demand for more sustainable products and services. The programme, backed by over £3m (NWDA & ERDF) aims to do this by providing over 480 businesses with one-to-one assistance which will include innovation mentoring and the development of a specific innovation project within the business. For more information visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/northwest/eco-innovation
  • The LEC encompasses five specialist centres, and five integrating themes covering Environmental Informatics; Agriculture; Water Management; Chemical Management, Atmospheric Science, Catchment and Aquatic Processes, Society and Environment, Environmental Geosciences, Biodiversity and Global Change, and brings together expertise from other departments across the University.
  • Alongside its degree programmes, the LEC runs practical training courses for businesses, an annual events programme in partnership with leading sector-specific organisations and a LEC Breakfast Business Club: an opportunity for local environmentally focused businesses to network with companies resident in LEC, take part in a Business Link innovation surgery and listen to an invited key note speaker.

Northwest England has a strong regional process engineering base, providing huge potential for sectoral collaboration.

The scale of wealth-creating potential close to Lancaster is almost boundless: from the south Cumbria-based Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, with its multi-billion pound budget, to sensitive coastal issues and wide-ranging rural initiatives.