About Us
Join our waste-prevention revolution
An estimated 6.8 million metric tons of trash is generated globally every day. Much of that waste originates from single-use packaging—used for shipping materials, water bottles, food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Worldwide, packaging designed for immediate disposal comprises the largest market sector for plastic resins.
A lot of the global waste problem is due to plastics, but not all of it. Whether you are looking at materials used to build homes, businesses, textiles, or staring down into an empty paper coffee cup, a lot of materials you think are recyclable are actually not. That’s where we come in.
Sustainable product and systems design
At the New Materials Institute, we work with a range of partners—from industry, to businesses, governments, foundations and other organizations, as well as individuals—to re-think “trash” because we don’t want it to become trash. We partner with industry to redesign products based on Green Engineering principles, with a focus on reducing waste by using biologically degradable materials. We also partner with companies that want to design products from mismanaged plastic (such as plastic waste from our oceans), and we will redesign systems (e.g., waste or manufacturing systems) so that they are focused on proactive materials management, also known as circular materials management.
We are committed to creating safer, environmentally-healthy products, as well as systems that generate less waste. Our goal is to encourage more sustainable product design and waste management practices. We believe that if we all work together to strive for greater sustainability, we will enjoy a future of cleaner oceans and a healthier environment—benefits for all the people and animals in our world.
Home of the Bioseniatic℠ Laboratory
Our Bioseniatic℠ Laboratory offers testing for any material or product currently in development or use that meets our criteria—from any researcher or manufacturer. Materials and products that meet our Bioseniatic™ criteria represent a new generation of biologically-degradable materials and/or products that are consumed by microbes in the receiving environment—even your backyard. Bioseniatic™ materials and products may come from nature or be synthetic, but regardless of their source, all are microbially degraded and non-toxic, which makes them safe for animals, people and our planet.
Teaching tomorrow’s engineers
Through all of these endeavors, we are also shaping the future. We are training a new generation of engineers on the importance of considering Green Engineering design principles from the outset. It is our hope that the scientists we train will share our philosophy with future generations.
Partner with us, and together we will take your product, product idea, or system to our bench and thoughtfully design it for tomorrow.
By working together, we can make a huge difference.
Our Mission
The New Materials Institute’s mission is to encourage and facilitate:
- integrative, collaborative research at the fundamental, test bed and systems levels that results in new materials based on green engineering principles;
- education and training of the next generation of scientists and engineers that will form the 21st century workforce in the design and realization of circular materials;
- outreach and partnership activities to involve our public and private stakeholders in the development, acceptance and use of materials technologies based on green engineering principles.