Polymers are all around us and although they are an integral part to the development of the global economy, many materials are only used once. Waste production in the UK is a significant issue with 80% of materials used in manufacturing products ending up as waste, landfill approaching capacity and a 40% increase in consumer waste projected between 2016 and 2020. Against a backdrop of sustainability and the need to reduce environmental impacts, recycling, re-use and remanufacture are becoming ever more important. This Fellowship will develop smart polymers that provide high performance and also enable recycling, which will be a unique approach in the UK to a circular economy. The goal of the programme is to work with academic and industrial partners to develop a key body of knowledge via high quality underpinning science and correlating the molecular architecture of the new materials with their basic physical properties and the application performance important to the end use, in addition to designing the relative compatibility between polymers to optimise their form and ultimate properties.