Remade Institute backs US recycling tech innovation

Two dozen initiatives in the US covering research into technology for recycling scrap are to receive funding totalling US$ 43 million (EUR 36 million).

The cash comes the Remade Institute, a consortium dedicated to reducing embodied-energy and decreasing emissions in materials manufacturing.

It represents Remade’s fourth round of funding, taking the number of supported research projects to more than 60,with a combined value of US$ 63 million.

Big names among the projects include the Ford Motor Company, Alcoa, Novelis, Michelin, Nike and BASF. They join more than 90 partners, including industry innovators and academic researchers from MIT, Yale University, the and the American Chemistry Council.

Remade ceo Nabil Nasr says a new round of funding, valued at an additional US$ 46 million, is expected to be announced in late spring. ‘Our mission is to reduce energy consumption and decrease emissions while increasing the US’s manufacturing competitiveness,’ he adds. ‘Our experts are working diligently to reach these critically important goals and, in the process, accelerate the country’s transition to a Circular Economy.’

Examples of the 24 projects include:

• Selective Recovery of Elements from Molten Aluminium Alloys
  Phinix, LLC, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Kingston Process Metallurgy, Smelter Service Corporation, Certified Flux Solutions, LLC
• Achieving 100% Recycling Aluminium in Die Casting Applications
  The Ohio State University (OSU), Alcoa USA Corp., North American Die Casting Association (NADCA), CompuTherm LLC
• Diverting Mixed Polyolefins from Municipal Solid Waste to Feedstocks for Automotive and Building Applications
  Michigan State University (MSU), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), PADNOS
• Smart Additive Manufacturing Towards Use of Recycled Paper Fibres for Producing High-quality Fibre-Reinforced Plastic (FRP) Composites
  University of Iowa, Impossible Objects, Inc.
• Reprocessing and Upcycling of Mixed Polyurethane Waste Streams
  Northwestern University, BASF
• Efficient Purification and Reuse of Carbon Black Recovered from End-of-Life Tyres
  University of Utah, Idaho National Laboratory (INL), OTR Wheel Engineering/Green Carbon
• Delamination as Key Enabler for the Recycling of Polymer-based Multilayer Packaging
  The Research Foundation for SUNY – University of Buffalo, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Modern Corporation, Honeywell (Performance Materials Technologies)
• Remanufacturing of Surface-Hardened Steel Components by Ultrasonic Surface Modification
  Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Caterpillar, Inc., University of Pittsburgh (PITT)
• Enabling Cross-industry Reuse of Commingled Waste Plastics as Quality Asphalt Modifier for Sustainable Pavement
  University of Tennessee – Knoxville, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Paragon Technical Services Inc. (a subsidiary of Ergon Asphalt and Emulsions, Inc.)
• Sustainable Automotive Manufacturing
  Michigan State University (MSU), American Chemistry Council (ACC), BASF