BACKGROUNDDevelopment of circular economy requires significant advances in the technologies for valorisation of waste, as waste becomes new feedstock. Food waste is a particularly important feedstock, containing large variation of complex chemical functionality. Although most food waste sources are complex mixtures, waste from food processing, no longer suitable for the human food chain, may also represent relatively clean materials. One such material requiring valorisation is cocoa butter.RESULTSEpoxidation of a triglyceride from a food waste source, processing waste cocoa butter, into the corresponding triglyceride epoxide was carried out using a modified Ishii‐Venturello catalyst in batch and continuous flow reactors. The batch reactor achieved higher yields due to the significant decomposition of hydrogen peroxide in the laminar flow tubular reactor. Integral and differential models describing the reaction and the phase transfer kinetics were developed for the epoxidation of cocoa butter and the model parameters were estimated. Ring‐opening of the epoxidised cocoa butter was undertaken to provide polyols of varying molecular weight (Mw = 2000–84 000 Da), hydroxyl value (27–60 mg KOH g−1) and acid value (1–173 mg KOH g−1), using either aqueous ortho‐phosphoric acid (H3PO4 ) or boron trifluoride diethyl etherate (BF3 ·OEt2)‐mediated oligomerisation in bulk, using hexane or tetrahydrofuran (THF) as solvents. The thermal and tensile properties of the polyurethanes obtained from the reaction of these polyols with 4,4′‐methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) are described.CONCLUSIONThe paper presents a complete valorisation scheme for a food manufacturing industry waste stream, starting from the initial chemical transformation, developing a process model for the design of a scaled‐up process, and leading to synthesis of the final product, in this case a polymer. This work describes aspects of optimisation of the conversion route, focusing on clean synthesis and also demonstrates the interdisciplinary nature of the development projects, requiring input from different areas of chemistry, process modelling and process design. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

The 4-exo and 5-exo-trig atom-transfer cyclizations of 1, 8a-e, 9, 12, and 13 can be mediated with as little as 0.05 mol % of Cu(TPMA)SO(4)·5H(2)O in the presence of 2.5 mol % of borohydride salts in 10 min at room temperature in air. This formal "activators generated by electron transfer" (AGET) procedure utilizes a cheap and oxidatively stable copper source (CuSO(4)·5H(2)O) and can be carried out in environmentally benign solvents (EtOH). It is possible to alter the product distribution in the 5-endo radical-polar crossover reactions of 10a,b and 11 by tailoring the amount of borohydride. Cyclization onto alkynes 14 and 15 is also possible in only 20 min. Controlled radical polymerization of styrene, with increased rates over conventional atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), can be carried out in a controlled fashion (Mn, PDI) using either CuBr or CuSO(4)·5H(2)O and Bu(4)NBH(4).

Composites offer high strength and stiffness at a lower density compared to other structural materials, therefore are of growing use to a variety of lightweight structures in order to reduce emissions and improve performance. However, traditional composites have the highest embodied carbon content of all engineering materials with limited methods of recycling. Therefore moving composites to a biobased sourcing can have a large impact in the eco-footprint of these materials. 2-Methoxy-4-vinylphenol has previously been shown to be sustainably biosourced from microbial degradation of lignin and has been termed ‘biostyrene’. In this work, the authors investigate the use of 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol analogues as a replacement for styrene as a reactive thinner for thermoset polyester, which is commonly used in fibreglass composite. 2-Methoxy-4-vinylphenyl acetate and 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenyl oleate were synthesised and along with unmodified 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol and 1,2-dimethoxy-4-vinylbenzene (3,4-dimethoxystyrene) were compared to styrene in typical polyester formulations. The mechanical properties by way of tensile tests and water-uptake tests and thermal properties by way of dynamic scanning calorimetry were used for comparison. Overall, the solubility issues were apparent using the biostyrenes, however, blends of biostyrenes with styrene of up to 50% showed no statistical difference with pure styrene in properties and so may be a viable styrene replacement in polyester used for fibreglass.

Though the benefits from using offsite technologies have been rehearsed, their uptake within the UK construction industry is slow. A critical barrier is the lack of cost data of using such technology. Another is the unsubstantiated perception that maintenance of offsite solutions is difficult and expensive. But, yet again, there appears to be no data publicly available on this topic. This knowledge gap is addressed by presenting the cost data of maintaining offsite and insitu bathrooms for student accommodation. The records of 732 maintenance jobs were investigated. These jobs span three years for 398 bathrooms, including precast concrete modules, Glass Reinforced Polyester (GRP) modules and insitu bathrooms. The results suggest that GRP modules required the lowest maintenance costs whilst insitu bathrooms were significantly more expensive to maintain. For offsite modules, drainage, toilets, vents and sink were identified as the main problematic areas for maintenance. The maintenance of insitu bathrooms was more complex and involved a wider range of problematic areas. The design imposed significant effects on the long-term cost of offsite bathrooms. Aspirations of clients need to be fully understood and integrated into design. The findings should facilitate the design decision-making of using offsite bathrooms for residential buildings.