Research

Thrust 3

Circular-By-Design Polymers

Motivation

Globally, around 311 million tons of plastic products were manufactured in 2014. That number is estimated to double by 2034. And as our plastics production increases, so do the projected environmental impacts. This accumulation of plastic waste is squeezing our landfills, burdening our oceans, and contaminating our soils and groundwater with dangerous byproducts. Less than 10% of the United States’ (U.S.) plastics waste is actually collected for recycling.

Our Vision

The Center for Plastics Innovation (CPI) is uniquely positioned to deliver disruptive, transformative, and robust solutions to realize sustainable plastics manufacturing, integrating a systems-based and data-driven approach with molecular-level understanding; selective and efficient catalytic pathways; advanced synthetic methodologies; high-throughput screening; and comprehensive, multiscale experimental and computational characterization.