Dr Michael Jie leads innovative medical waste recycling project backed by national funding

20 May 2026

Through the EPSRC and Defra Research to Advance UK Recycling Capabilities programme, Queen Mary has secured a £1.7M award for the project, “Microwave-Catalytic Upcycling of Medical Waste: A Decentralised Solution for Resource Recovery in Healthcare,”. 

Led by Dr Michael Jie, from the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences and in partnership with deep-tech company MCatalysis, Inc., the project will pioneer a new approach to converting difficult-to-recycle medical plastic waste into valuable chemicals and synthetic fuels using advanced microwave-driven catalysis.

This award highlights the University's ongoing dedication to decarbonisation, sustainable innovation, and the transition to a net zero economy. Through collaborative research with industry partners and translational science, the University brings sustainable solutions from the lab to the real world.

Healthcare waste remains one of the most challenging waste streams to manage sustainably due to contamination risks and reliance on carbon-intensive incineration. While regulated medical waste represents approximately 10% of healthcare waste by volume, it accounts for nearly 50% of disposal costs. Current disposal routes contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions across the healthcare sector.

The project will develop decentralised modular systems capable of processing medical waste directly at the point of generation, reducing transportation requirements, minimising waste volumes, and recovering high-value chemical products.

“This new funding represents an important step in translating fundamental research into scalable technologies that support the UK’s transition towards net zero,” said Dr Michael Jie, Project Lead. “At Queen Mary, we are committed to developing practical solutions for some of the most difficult sustainability challenges facing society. Through innovative microwave catalysis, we aim to transform contaminated healthcare plastics from an environmental burden into a valuable resource stream.”

Highlighting the significance of the national investment, Dr Kedar Pandya, Executive Director for Strategy at EPSRC, said: “This investment reflects our commitment to building a cleaner, more sustainable UK economy. By funding ambitious, collaborative and impactful research into recycling technologies, we are helping to tackle some of the most complex challenges in our waste system, from collection through to currently hard-to-recycle material recovery. The research being undertaken, jointly funded by EPSRC and Defra, will support the long-term transition to a circular economy and create the conditions for genuine economic and environmental benefit for the UK.”

This project underscores the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences' growing leadership in sustainable chemical manufacturing, circular economy technologies, and industrial decarbonisation research. By blending academic excellence with deep industry collaboration, the School is advancing technologies that drive measurable environmental, economic, and societal impact.