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.

Alejandro 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. 

Research experience and interests

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.

Research outcomes

Dr Gallego Schmid has published more than 70 scientific articles (h>34 >5000 citations; 2% Top cited researcher 2024 in environmental science field according to Stanford University and 0.5% Top cited researcher 2024 for circular economy according to ScholarGPS) in international peer-reviewed journals, has given more than 60 oral presentations in national and international conferences and Universities, has been awarded three research fellowships and participated as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator in 25 national and international scientific projects (total > £11M).

Alejandro 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. 

Current research projects

Alejandro currently leads the environmental and circularity quantification in three major projects:

• BBSRC £1.5 M “Engineering biology for critical metal recovery from industrial wastestreams”
• EPSRC £0.4 M “Increasing sustainability at the Electron Paramagnetic Resonance National Research Facilities”
• MRC  £1.6M “National Hub for Advanced Long-acting Therapeutics”.

Alejandro currently also works on a range of other funded projects including:

• CO-OPERATE: Socio-environmental assessment of repurposing abandoned coal mine for geothermal district heating
• PREMIER: Progressive and emerging interdisciplinary (bio)materials research – the journey of a jersey
• Molly Fish-ing: Microfibre pollution, legacy and future investigations through engaging stakeholders
• Tackling the energetic cost of computing at the University of Manchester
• Visions of, and steps towards, an Environmentally Sustainable Space Future

Already finished projects that Alejandro has led or participated include: i) EPSRC £1.1M "Environmental impacts of digital services for health and wellbeing in the home" ii) the quantification of the carbon footprint of a new graphene-enhanced and low-carbon cement (Innovate UK); iii) England Research “CAMINO: Circular economy in South America: Barriers, drivers and opportunities; iv) Royal Academy of Engineering project "Assessing the informal waste sector contribution to Nepal circularity transition"; v) Supergen Energy Network Hub's "Whole system analysis impact of thermal energy storage technologies in future UK energy networks"; vi) "Designing Sustainable Supply Chains" project sponsored by a major retailer; vii) DRES ME: a research partnership with Tesco PLC to study how data analysis can help to scale up textile recycling; viii) Sustainable Urban Technologies with the KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm Universities (Sweden) and ix) ‘Contemporary Crises and Net Zero Transitions: COVID-19, Energy and Ukraine’ project in collaboration with the University of Melbourne and the University of Toronto.

Alejandro has directly collaborated in research projects with more than 40 multinational companies including Tesco, Pragmatic, First Graphene, Breedon, Mastercard, Ecobelt, Abengoa, Uniliver, Co-op Foods, Apello, Orbit, Johnson Matthey, CEMEX and Cosentino.

Leadership, editorial offices and recognitions

• Head of Sustainability and Engagement at the School of Engineering (University of Manchester)
• Visiting fellow at the Universities of Girona and Almeria (Spain).
• Lead of the Resourceful Futures Challenge at Sustainable Futures.
• Lead of the Material Resource Management Group at the University of Manchester
• Co-Lead of the Tyndall Centre's Reaching Zero Emissions Theme. 
• Member of the Steering Committee of Centre for Crisis Studies and Mitigation.
• 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.
• Senior Fellow of The Higher Education Academy (SFHEA).
• Associate Member of The United Nations Life Cycle Assessment Initiative.
• Editorial Board of Sustainable Horizons (Elsevier) and Circular Economy and Sustainability (Springer). 
• Editor of two Special Issues in Resources, Conservation and Recycling.
• Co-founder of the LCA for Circular Economy Plastics network.
• Elected Member of the Systems of Sustainable Consumption and Production Knowledge-Action Network.

• 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 associated to the implementation of circular economy principles.

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. 

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):

• Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure (CIVIL14022)

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