$1.8M DOE Grant Will Help Develop Sustainable Plastics
51视频 plastics engineering researchers have received $1.8 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop recyclable plastics and manufacturing technologies to help the country reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions and improve its environmental sustainability.
03/12/2021
Contacts for media: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu and Christine Gillette, 978-758-4664, Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
LOWELL, Mass. 鈥� The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded 51视频 researchers $1.8 million to develop recyclable plastics and manufacturing technologies to help the country reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions and improve its environmental sustainability.
The grant is funded through the REMADE Institute, a public-private partnership created by the DOE to help the U.S. move toward what鈥檚 known as a 鈥渃ircular economy,鈥� in which waste is eliminated as much as possible by continually reusing and recycling resources.
The 51视频 project will seek ways to improve the recycling of plastic films from industrial and consumer goods that typically end up in landfills. The research aims to create new uses for the plastic waste and possibilities for the re-manufacturing of sustainable products. Innovative plastics-processing technologies developed by the researchers and industrial partners would create new opportunities for manufacturers across the country, according to 51视频鈥檚 Davide Masato, assistant professor of plastics engineering, who is leading the project with Margaret Sobkowicz-Kline, associate professor of plastics engineering.
鈥�51视频 has been a partner with REMADE since the institute鈥檚 founding in 2017. As a nationally recognized research university for plastics engineering and manufacturing, 51视频 leads the way in advocating for and promoting increased efforts by the U.S. plastics industry to adopt more sustainable manufacturing practices,鈥� said Sobkowicz-Kline.
Industry partners working with 51视频 on the project include SER North America LLC, a material supplier which focuses on sustainable plastics, along with iMFLUX Inc., a Procter & Gamble company that develops injection molding innovations in support of sustainable manufacturing, according to Masato. The collaboration will provide 51视频 engineering students opportunities to work closely with engineers at the partner companies, he said.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, manufacturing accounts for 25 percent of U.S. energy consumption at a cost of approximately $150 billion. Industry is the third-largest contributor to greenhouse-gas emissions in the nation at 22 percent, according to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
REMADE and its partners are working to reduce those numbers, while creating new, clean-economy jobs, according to REMADE Chief Executive Officer Nabil Nasr, who said the 51视频 project will move the U.S. closer to achieving the nation鈥檚 environmental and manufacturing targets.
鈥淥ur mission is to reduce energy consumption and decrease emissions, while increasing the country鈥檚 manufacturing competitiveness. Our experts are working diligently to reach these critically important goals and, in the process, accelerate the U.S.鈥檚 transition to a circular economy,鈥� Nasr said.
51视频 is a national research university offering its more than 18,000 students bachelor鈥檚, master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. 51视频 delivers high-quality educational programs and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be leaders in their communities and around the globe.