NSF Engines Development Award: Building an sustainable plastics innovation ecosystem in the Midwest (MN, IL)

This Regional Innovation Engines Development Award seeks to create an ecosystem to facilitate the transition to a sustainable, new circular plastics economy. Led by University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, it is comprised of use-inspired research, translation of solutions to adoption, workforce expansion, and a culture of inclusivity. The project team is comprised of 11 academic institutions, 4 non-profit/community organizations, 5 government facilities, 16 industry partners, and 6 economic development groups, with the University of Minnesota serving as the lead institution. The region served is urban/suburban areas around Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul and parts of Indiana and Wisconsin. The project will build the foundations for an innovation ecosystem that will: a) create a hub for identifying and solving use-inspired research problems, b) fill critical gaps in the innovation ecosystem and c) enable equity-centered growth across the ecosystem. Society is at a crossroads with how it makes, uses, and discards plastics, and the current course is demonstrably unsustainable. The ubiquitous use of plastics, coupled with low recovery rates, depletes resources and leaks plastic waste into the environment, harming environmental and human health and disproportionately impacting economically and socially disadvantaged groups. Modern societies need plastic but can no longer afford the unsustainable and damaging consequences of the current plastics ecosystem. The concentration of relevant expertise and resources in the Midwest make it ideally suited to recreate and re-imagine the plastics industry as a circular economy. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.