Dr Alejandro Gallego Schmid works as a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Circular Economy and Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment at the Department of Engineering for Sustainability at the University of Manchester. He is part of Tyndall Manchester - an interdisciplinary team working on relevant research on climate change sustainability, where he works identifying sustainable solutions for industrial, agricultural, textile, construction, water and energy systems on a life cycle and circular economy basis, taking into account economic, environmental and social aspects. Alejandro holds a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Science, a MEng in Environmental Engineering and obtained his PhD in Chemical and Environmental Engineering with First Class (Honours) cum laude.

Alejandro's research experience, both in industry and academia, has been focus on:

• Circular economy

• Life cycle assessment (LCA)

• Life cycle costing (LCC)

• Social sustainability assessment

• Multi-criteria decision analysis 

His current research is focused on: i) the role of circular economy to tackle climate change and achieve net-zero solutions; ii) the implementation of circular economy in renewable sources of energy; iii) circular economy and the informal waste sector in the Global South; and iv) the nexus between circular economy and digitalization.

Dr Gallego Schmid has published more than 60 scientific articles (h>26; >2700 citations) in international peer-reviewed journals, has given more than 40 oral presentations in national and international conferences and Universities, has been awarded three research fellowships and participated as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator in 20 national and international scientific projects (total > £7M). He has been part of the scientific committee and session chair in several national and international conferences (e.g.  IX International Conference of Life Cycle Assessment in Latin America).  His research work has been published in high-impact factor journals (Q1) like Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Resource Conservation Recycling, Applied Energy, Water Research among others. Alejandro is a Member of the Editorial Board of Sustainable Horizons (Elsevier) and Circular Economy and Sustainability (Springer). 

Currently, Alejandro is the University of Manchester Principal Investigator on the EPSRC £1.1M "Environmental impacts of digital services for health and wellbeing in the home". Alejandro leads, as part of Innovate UK project, the quantification of the carbon footprint of a new graphene-enhanced and low-carbon cement. He currently also works on a range of other funded projects including: i) DRES ME: a research partnership with Tesco PLC to study how data analysis can help to scale up textile recycling; ii) a funded research collaboration in Sustainable Urban Technologies with the KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm Universities (Sweden); and iii) ‘Contemporary Crises and Net Zero Transitions: COVID-19, Energy and Ukraine’ project in collaboration with the University of Melbourne and the University of Toronto.

Previously, he has lead the Royal Academy of Engineering project "Assessing the informal waste sector contribution to Nepal circularity transition" and also worked on a range of other funded projects including: the Supergen Energy Network Hub's "Whole system analysis impact of thermal energy storage technologies in future UK energy networks" and a collaboration with industry partners to understand the life cycle environmental impacts of smart connected packaging tags.  He has had also a major role in several other projects like the "Designing Sustainable Supply Chains" project sponsored by a major retailer and a European Union H2020 project quantifying the environmental sustainability of solar reactors in the cement industry. 

Alejandro has been a visiting fellow at the Universities of Girona and Almeria (Spain), is the Lead of the Resourceful Futures Challenge at Sustainable Futures,  Co-Lead of the Tyndall Centre's Reaching Zero Emissions Theme, Member of the Steering Committee of Centre for Crisis Studies and Mitigation, an Associate Member of The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), Elected member of the AMT/10/1/1 “Sustainable Robotics" Committee at the British Standards Institution (BSI), Elected Member of the EPSRC Peer Review College, Fellow of The Higher Education Academy (FHEA), an Associate Member of The United Nations Life Cycle Assessment Initiative, Editor of two Special Issues in Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Co-founder of the LCA for Circular Economy Plastics network, Elected Member of the IChemE Energy Centre Leadership Forum and Leader of the Sustainable Communities and Infrastructure theme group of the Manchester African Research Network at the University of Manchester.

• Circular economy
• Life cycle assessment (LCA)
• Life cycle costing
• Social sustainability assessment
• Carbon footprint
• Multi-criteria decision analysis
• Material efficiency
• Renewable energy
• Climate change
• Informal sector
• Digitalization
• Wastewater treatment
• Global South

Prospective students

I am always keen to hear from talented, enthusiastic students with interests in life cycle sustainability assessment and circular economy (please consult  Tyndall web for recent and ongoing projects). My current research is focused on: i) the role of circular economy to tackle climate change and achieve net-zero solutions; ii) the implementation of circular economy in renewable sources of energy; iii) circular economy and the informal waste sector in the Global South; and iv) the nexus between circular economy and digitalization. I especially enjoy working with students who have a strong quantitative background, and a passion for understanding the multi-disciplinary economic, environmental and social interactions between water use, industrial and energy production, and the environment and the society in different regions worldwide. If you think that you are a good fit to this description, please get in touch with me to discuss potential project ideas and funding opportunities. In your email, be sure to include a copy of your current CV and a short description of your ideal research project. 

My research experience, both in industry and academia, has been focus on:

• Circular economy

• Life cycle assessment (LCA)

• Life cycle costing (LCC)

• Social sustainability assessment

• Multi-criteria decision analysis 

I am part of Tyndall Centre Manchester - an interdisciplinary team working on relevant research on climate change and sustainability where I work identifying sustainable solutions for industrial and energy systems on Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment and Circular Economy basis, taking into account economic, environmental and social aspects.

Alejandro currently teaches on the following units within the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEEN) and of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering (MACE):

• Resource Efficiency and Sustainable Waste Management (CIVIL30262)

• Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure (CIVIL14022)

•  Understanding Energy as a system driving modern society (EEEN60411)