A NORTH Yorkshire scientist has been honoured by China’s oldest university for developing a greener way of producing one of the world’s most common plastics.

Professor Graham Hutchings, who lives in Osmotherley near Northallerton, has been feted worldwide for devising a substitute for toxic metal mercury used to produce PVC. He discovered gold can be used to catalyse reactions much more efficiently.

His discovery resulted in him recently being invited to collect an Advanced Environmental Solutions Prize – described as the Nobel Prize of energy research - from the Italian Palace in the presence of Italian President Sergio Mattarella for his pioneering work.

Now the director of the Cardiff Catalysis Institute at Cardiff University has also been made an honorary professor of Tianjin University in China.

China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of PVC.

Thanks to a partnership with sustainable technologies giant Johnson Matthey, his work is being commercialised in the country, where it is having a major impact and should also help clean-up rivers currently poisoned by mercury in the country.

A purpose-built factory has been created to produce the gold catalysts.

Tianjin is China’s top university for chemical engineering.

Founded in 1895 as Peiyang University, it boasts an illustrious history, having developed China’s first aircraft engine and its first unmanned aerial vehicle.

“I am delighted and deeply humbled to be honoured by Tianjin University,” said Professor Hutchings.

“The university is a true world-leader with a track record of scientific ‘firsts’. Its chemical engineering faculty alone has 7,000 students and 2,000 staff. A brand new campus, and eight buildings dedicated to chemical engineering, make it a powerhouse for science in China.”

“Tianjin continues to win international accolades for its contribution to a wide range of disciplines including pharmaceuticals, robotics, and automotive engineering,” added Professor Hutchings, who also holds a Regius Professorship - one of the UK’s highest science honours.