[OKRA] DOE Announces $14.5 Million to Combat Plastics Waste and Pollution

[Ellen Bussert]

The Oklahoma Recycling Association would like to let you know what is
happening with research to recycle single use plastics.
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   1. Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy
   <https://www.energy.gov/eere>
   2. DOE Announces $14.5 Million to Combat Plastics Waste and Pollution

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced an investment of up to
$14.5 million for research and development to cut waste and reduce the
energy used to recycle single-use plastics like plastic bags, wraps, and
films. This funding directed toward plastics recycling technologies
advances the DOE’s work to address the challenges of plastic waste
recycling and support the Biden Administration’s efforts to build a clean
energy economy and ensure the U.S. reaches net-zero carbon emissions by
2050.

“For years, single-use plastics have had a detrimental impact on the
environment—clogging landfills and polluting our neighborhoods, parks, and
beaches,” said *Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm*. “Innovation in
plastics recycling technology is a triple win by cutting plastic waste we
see in our everyday lives, reducing industrial energy use and resulting
emissions, and creating clean manufacturing jobs for American workers.”

Single-use plastics are the largest subset of plastics found in landfills
and among the most challenging to recycle. Plastic production accounts for
more than 3% of total U.S. energy consumption and uses roughly the same
amount of oil around the world as the aviation industry. Yet, less than 10%
of plastics are currently recycled, most of which are “downcycled,” or
repurposed into low-value products.

Through this funding opportunity, DOE will support a range of projects to
develop economically viable solutions for converting plastic films to more
valuable materials and design new plastics that are more recyclable and
biodegradable. These solutions can increase investments in recycling
processes and recycling jobs in the United States, reduce the amount of
plastics that end up in the environment, and decarbonize the plastics
industry.

“I’m thrilled with the announcement of this substantial federal investment
in researching better ways to recycle and upcycle single use plastics. This
has been a top priority of mine in the United States Congress and I
launched the bipartisan Congressional Plastics Task Force in 2019 to help
combat the plastic waste crisis in our country,” said *U.S. Representative
Haley Stevens.* “I applaud Secretary Granholm and the Biden Administration
for taking this important step and look forward to working together to
innovate recycling across America.”

As part of the application, applicants are required to describe how
diversity, equity, and inclusion objectives will be incorporated in the
project.

This funding opportunity builds on DOE investments, including the DOE
Bio-Optimized
Technologies to keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment
(BOTTLE) Consortium  <https://www.bottle.org/index.html>and the Reducing
EMbodied energy And Decreasing Emissions (REMADE) Institute
<http://www.remadeinstitute.org/>. BOTTLE consortium members have
previously engineered an enzyme to better deconstruct polyethylene
terephthalate, one of the most commonly used plastic packaging materials,
developed a new approach to deconstruct single use polyethylene
<https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacsau.0c00041> for use in new products,
and developed a brand new plastic
<https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chempr.2021.02.003> that can be easily recycled.

The funding opportunity announcement is available now on EERE Exchange
<https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaIde3d7e574-49db-441e-8091-3f6c253edb28>
.

DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Advanced
Manufacturing Office
<https://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/advanced-manufacturing-office> and Bioenergy
Technologies Office
<https://www.energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/bioenergy-technologies-office> oversee
these investments in support of the Biden Administration’s efforts to
address the climate emergency. DOE’s Office of Science
<https://www.energy.gov/science/office-science> and Office of Fossil Energy
<https://www.energy.gov/fe/office-fossil-energy> also play key roles in
supporting plastic research and development efforts.

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