The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has invested $16 million in eight research projects aimed at addressing the global plastic waste crisis. The projects, part of NSF’s Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) program, focus on creating a “circular plastics economy” to improve plastic recycling and reduce environmental contamination.
The NSF-funded research seeks to develop technologies that can efficiently break down, separate, and repurpose these materials into high-value products. This process, called “upcycling,” could turn plastic waste into new chemicals, materials, and energy sources.
To combat this issue, NSF is funding research aimed at creating a “circular plastics economy,” where plastics are not only recycled but repurposed in ways that prevent them from ending up in landfills. “NSF’s investment will advance the creation of a circular plastics economy that makes manufacturing more sustainable and helps protect our health and environmental well-being,” said Susan Margulies, NSF Assistant Director for Engineering.
A key challenge in dealing with plastic waste is its complexity. Many plastic products, like food wrappers and packaging materials, contain multiple layers of polymers, additives, adhesives, dyes, and even metals. These combinations make recycling efforts inefficient and costly. For instance, food wrappers, such as potato chip bags, combine plastic film, metal foil, and adhesives, which existing recycling technologies struggle to break down efficiently. “Nearly all of it ends up in a landfill or lost to the environment,” explained Christina Payne, NSF program director.
The projects span a range of innovative approaches, from synthetic biology to advanced chemical processes, and aim to create a sustainable system that curbs virgin plastic production and mitigates global plastic pollution. The initiative is part of NSF’s broader effort to inspire interdisciplinary research that addresses pressing environmental and technological challenges.
The NSF investment is distributed across a variety of innovative projects designed to tackle plastic waste at different stages of its lifecycle:
- Texas A&M University will focus on high-throughput synthetic biology approaches for breaking down and reutilizing mixed plastics.
- University of Colorado at Boulder will explore hydrogenolysis as a method for upcycling polyesters and other mixed plastics.
- University of Akron is investigating nonthermal plasma-assisted techniques to convert waste plastics into value-added chemicals and fuels.
- Washington State University will develop a novel catalytic solvolysis process to deconstruct municipal waste plastics.
- University of California, Berkeley is programming enzyme-containing plastics to manage their lifecycle effectively.
- Auburn University is exploring supercritical extraction methods for the elimination of end-of-life plastics.
- University of Alabama will focus on activating chemistries for transformative upcycling of polymers.
- Arizona State University is targeting the circularity of crosslinked polyurethane foams, a challenging material to recycle.
These projects build on NSF’s earlier $18 million investment in 2020, which supported nine EFRI projects aimed at similar goals. The interdisciplinary nature of these initiatives combines engineering, biological sciences, and physical sciences with partnerships involving the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
NSF’s long-term vision for this initiative is to spur breakthroughs in recycling, valorization, and plastic waste management that can eventually curb the production of virgin plastics and mitigate the environmental damage caused by plastic pollution. “Investments in emerging frontiers and potentially transformative, fundamental science and engineering research — such as engineering solutions to plastics pollution and cutting-edge chemical manufacturing — are indispensable for competing in the global innovation economy,” said Sohi Rastegar, head of NSF’s Office of Emerging Frontiers and Multidisciplinary Activities.
The goal is to reimagine how plastics are handled from production to disposal, creating a sustainable loop that minimizes waste and protects the environment from further plastic pollution. With the continued rise in global plastic production, these efforts are crucial to developing new systems and technologies capable of efficiently recycling and repurposing plastics, ultimately preventing them from contaminating oceans, lands, and ecosystems.
Source: August 26, 2021 U.S. National Science Foundation
