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UGA New Materials Institute Director Jason Locklin talks to NOVA about plastics

Kat Gilmore on February 3, 2021

Jason Locklin, PhD, is director of the UGA New Materials Institute. Professor Locklin is jointly appointed to the College of Engineering, where he is a Distinguished Faculty Scholar, and to the Department of Chemistry in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

An interview with Jason Locklin, on the environmental problems associated with plastics and potential solutions for the near future, is featured in an episode of a three-part NOVA docuseries that premieres Wednesday, February 3. Locklin is director of the UGA New Materials Institute, which researches and develops compostable technologies to replace the environmentally persistent, petroleum-based plastics currently used in packaging for consumer goods and food items.

NOVA “BEYOND THE ELEMENTS,” hosted by David Pogue, examines our everyday world through the lens of chemistry. The series features three distinct, but related episodes: “REACTIONS,” “INDESTRUCTIBLE” and “LIFE,” airing on February 3 and 10 at 9 p.m. ET/8C and on February 17 at 8 p.m. ET/7C on PBS. The series is available for streaming online and via the PBS Video app.

BEYOND THE ELEMENTS brings hard-to-visualize concepts to life with the help of stunning graphics, giving viewers easy-to-understand insights into the question: “What happens when atoms stick together?”

The interview with Locklin appears in the “INDESTRUCTIBLE” episode that airs on February 10.

BEYOND THE ELEMENTS premieres Wednesdays, February 3 and 10 at 9 p.m. ET/8C and February 17 at 8 p.m. ET/7C on PBS and is available for streaming online and on the PBS video app.

NOVA “BEYOND THE ELEMENTS: REACTIONS”  (February 3, 2021 at 9 p.m. ET/8C on PBS) Just about every solid, liquid, or gas in the world as we know it begins with reactions between individual atoms and molecules. Host David Pogue dives into the transformative world of chemical reactions, from the complex formula that produces cement to the single reaction that’s allowed farmers to feed a global population by the billions—a reaction that when reversed, unleashes the powerful chemistry of high explosives.

NOVA “BEYOND THE ELEMENTS: INDESTRUCTIBLE” (February 10, 2021 at 9 p.m. ET/8C on PBS) Glass so strong you can jump on it, a rubber-like coating tough enough to absorb a bomb blast, the endless varieties of plastic. Scientists and engineers have created virtually indestructible versions of common materials by manipulating the chains of interlocking atoms that give them strength—but have they made them too tough? Host David Pogue explores the fantastic chemistry behind the everyday materials we depend on, and how the quest for durability can be balanced with products’ environmental impact.

NOVA “BEYOND THE ELEMENTS: LIFE” (February 17, 2021 at 8 p.m. ET/7C on PBS) Without the chemistry of photosynthesis, ozone, and a molecule called Rubisco, none of us would be here. So how did we get so lucky? To find out, host David Pogue investigates the surprising molecules that allowed life on Earth to begin, and ultimately thrive. Along the way, he finds out what we’re all made of—literally.

UGA scientist leads effort to help flexible films fully transition to compostable technologies

Kat Gilmore on February 2, 2021

Evan White, PhD, of the UGA New Materials Institute.
Evan White, of the UGA New Materials Institute, leads a fund-raising initiative aimed at helping the flexible films industry transition toward greater sustainability in packaging films used for consumer goods and food packaging. The initiative resulted from the Redesigning Flexible Films Innovation Workshop, held virtually throughout 2020, which involved White and more than 80 experts. Photo by Amy Ware.

Evan White, of the UGA New Materials Institute, is leading an initiative to establish a nonprofit organization to raise money for research and development of compostable technologies for the flexible films industry to help facilitate the industry’s transition toward greater sustainability in packaging for consumer goods and food packaging.

The initiative, “Crowdfunding for Research & Development of New Compostable Materials,” is one of nine incubation projects resulting from a virtual workshop held throughout 2020 involving White and more than 80 experts—including polymer scientists, resin producers, retailers, waste managers, soil experts and other industry professionals. The Redesigning Flexible Films Innovation Workshop participants included representatives from the UGA New Materials Institute, Dr. Bronner’s, Eco-Cycle, Mars, New Hope Network, PepsiCo, Ben & Jerry’s, and Amy’s Kitchen, among others.

The result of their efforts are broadly outlined in a white paper titled “Uncovering the Next Innovation Curve in Sustainable Packaging.” The white paper creates a framework to move industry toward zero-waste packaging by transitioning away from traditional plastic flexible films, materials that have been a rapidly growing packaging format with no end-of-life option. Flexible films currently utilized by industry include bags, wraps, multilayer packaging, air pouches, and most packaging used for food. Benefits of flexible packaging include the delivery of safe and affordable food to consumers, and reduction of  emissions from transportation and food waste. Despite these benefits, the flexible films currently in use are the most environmentally deleterious form of packaging and have a limited recycling future—and, therein lies the paradox. In his role as a workshop participant, White, who is director of the New Material Institute’s Bioseniatic℠ Laboratory, advocated for compostable technologies as replacement options for these materials.

“The problem with flexible films currently in use is their end-of-life scenario,” explained White. “They are not recycled because they easily gum up the recycling sorters and grinders. Their light weight means the films have no value to recyclers, and flexible films are often contaminated with food residue, which bars them from recycling. This type of light-weight packaging is carried easily by the wind and therefore is widely distributed into the environment. These films are used by industry because they are inexpensive. Industry needs an inexpensive, responsibly-sourced alternative to this type of commonly used plastic.”

The non-profit fundraising arm that White and his team will create will be an independent entity. White is currently forming a board of directors and creating organizational bylaws. More details will be released later this year. The goal is to publish advances that benefit the flexible film industry, and, to raise funds for research and development aimed at tackling three key lingering problems with multilayer films and the flexible packaging industry: compostable energy curable varnishes; compostable inks; and new barrier layers to replace aluminum metalized packaging currently used in chip bags and other single-use applications.  Until now, certification agencies have tolerated minimal levels of these materials in packaging, but this acceptance will be gradually phased out as industry moves toward sustainability goals set for 2030.

The virtual workshop was produced by RCD Packaging Innovation, a supply and innovation firm that specializes in packaging solutions to eliminate waste and care for our planet; support was provided by OSC. To download a free copy of the white paper, click here.

UGA, BASF to conduct biological degradation studies for DOE-funded project

Kat Gilmore on November 2, 2020

A respirometer at the UGA New Materials Institute.
Biological degradation studies are conducted in a respirometer, in which each individual chamber simulates an environment where materials are broken down by microbes that live in that environment. The UGA New Materials Institute has constructed some of the largest respirometers in North America for its biological degradation studies, totaling 192 chambers for environmental simulation. Photo by Cassie Wright.

The University of Georgia New Materials Institute will collaborate on a U.S. Department of Energy-funded research project to explore and optimize strains of bacteria for use in the creation of biologically degrading thermoplastic for polyurethanes and their byproducts. The UGA team, led by Jason Locklin, who directs the Institute, will work with a team from BASF (www.basf.com) to conduct the biological degradation studies for the grant project.

The US DOE awarded $2 million in grant funding to Jon Pokorski and Adam Feist, both researchers from the University of California San Diego, to fine-tune their innovation for thermoplastic polyurethanes and related byproducts. The UGA-BASF team will utilize about a quarter of that funding, over 3 years, to ensure that the material meets the biological degradation requirements specified by the US DOE. The BASF team will be led by Arif Rahman, a thermoplastic polyurethane researcher at the company.

“It’s an honor to be asked by my colleagues at UCSD for help with their project, and it is a tremendous advantage for us to be able to conduct these biological degradability studies with a team from BASF” said Locklin. “Working in tandem with industry means we are all focused on fine-tuning a technology that will be launched into the global marketplace where it can replace current plastics technologies that are accumulating in our landfills and environment.”

BASF and the UGA New Materials Institute have already developed a good working relationship over the last few years, through BASF’s participation as a member company of the Center for Bioplastics and Biocomposites (CB2). CB2 is an Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers program funded by the National Science Foundation, and the UGA New Materials Institute serves as one of four research sites for CB2.

The project “Degradable Biocomposite Thermoplastic Polyurethanes” was funded through the DOE’s BOTTLE program: Bio-Optimized Technologies to Keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment; the program isjointly funded by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office and Advanced Manufacturing Office. The project is part of the DOE’s Plastics Innovation Challenge, which draws on the research capabilities of DOE National Laboratories, universities, and industry to accelerate innovations in energy-efficient plastics recycling technologies.

Read the press release from UCSD

Biodegradable. Compostable. Recyclable. How helpful are product label claims?

Kat Gilmore on October 2, 2020

A contaminated recycling stream.
Products and packaging labeled as “biodegradable” or “compostable” can confuse consumers and contaminate recycling streams. (Photo by Andrew Davis Tucker/UGA)

Creating plastics, particularly packaging, is a complex endeavor. For example, multiple materials may be required to create packaging for a product, based on how far that product has to travel, how long its shelf life might be, and whether it’s packaging for a food item. So, if you are a consumer who is concerned about selecting environmentally-friendly packaging and products, what do you do? Are the claims made on product packaging clear enough to help you make the best decision when it comes time to dispose of that packaging or product? Jason Locklin, director of the UGA New Materials Institute, and Jenna Jambeck, who leads the Institute’s Center for Circular Materials Management, talked to the New York Times about the complicated choices facing today’s consumers.

READ THE STORY

Locklin, Jambeck help lead effort to shape circular economy research

Kat Gilmore on September 18, 2020

The University of Georgia New Materials Institute’s Jason Locklin and Jenna Jambeck are collaborating on a virtual workshop series aimed at shaping the future of circular economy research. Locklin, a professor of chemical engineering and founding director of the New Materials Institute, and Jambeck, a professor of environmental engineering and associate director of the Institute, will join experts from academia, industry, government and nonprofits in panel discussions aimed at developing ideas and goals for circular economy research. The workshop series is funded by the National Science Foundation and is led by Melissa Bilec, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering; Bilec is deputy director of the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation (MSCI). Other co-investigators on the grant include Eric Beckman, a professor of chemical engineering and co-director of the MCSI, and, Gregg Beckham, senior research fellow at the National Renewable Energy Lab.

Read more

Students and Industry Partnering for the Planet: When Waste Leads to Good Business (from VentureWell’s blog)

Kat Gilmore on July 22, 2020

Examples of innovative collaborations took center stage at a recent VentureWell virtualOPEN conference session on supporting sustainable design and addressing environmental issues. Attendees heard from Crystal Leach, director of Industry Collaboration at the University of Georgia’s New Materials Institute (NMI); Faculty Grants recipient, Chad Kennedy, a lecturer in the technology, entrepreneurship, and management program at The Polytechnic School at Arizona State University (ASU); and Faculty Grants recipient, Volker Sick, director of the Global CO2 initiative and an engineering professor at the University of Michigan (UM) Ann Arbor. 

READ THE STORY

New Materials Institute pioneering replacements for plastic

Kat Gilmore on June 25, 2020

Dr. Evan White working in the UGA New Materials Institute's Bioseniatic℠ Laboratory.
Evan White, assistant research scientist at the UGA New Materials Institute, uses respirometry to characterize how plastics are biologically converted into innocuous compounds. White and his colleagues at the UGA NMI are working to develop materials and plastic replacements that completely break down and return to nature when discarded. (Photo by Beth Chang)

For Evan White, growing up outside Atlanta meant witnessing significant changes in his landscape. His hometown of Lilburn, Georgia, tripled its population between 1980 and 2000, and White watched as nearby woods became neighborhoods and parking lots. He saw trash, much of it plastic, accumulate in the streams and tributaries where he played.

“You don’t have to go very far into nature to see the evidence of human expansion,” said White, now an assistant research scientist at UGA. “Different particles of plastic will wind up at a final resting place according to their chemical reactivity and their density. Most of these plastics like to float on water, and they go where the water goes.”

These formative experiences greatly influenced his career path, leading him to the university’s New Materials Institute, directed by Jason Locklin, and its Center for Advanced Polymers, Fibers & Coatings. White is part of a team focused on a single goal: to develop materials and plastic replacements that completely break down and return to nature when discarded.

READ THE STORY

UGA-led projects for NSF-funded CB2 ‘on track’ for 2020

Kat Gilmore on May 18, 2020

Logo for CB2

Two research projects that are being led by University of Georgia New Materials Institute received positive feedback at the spring meeting of the Industry Advisory Board for the Center for Bioplastics and Biocomposites (CB2), a National Science Foundation Industry—University Cooperative Research Center.

The projects, “Unlocking the Potential for Xylan-based Polymer Materials” and “Investigation of the Enzymatic Degradability of Glycolic Urethane Linkages Using Chromophore Probes,” are among nine that were selected by CB2’s IAB for research and funding in 2020. The other projects are being conducted at three other research sites, that, together with UGA, comprise CB2: North Dakota State University has three projects underway; Iowa State University and  Washington State University each have two. Updates on all projects were presented by researchers at CB2’s spring meeting, held virtually in mid-May.

Pushing toward greater sustainability

“UGA is very happy with the feedback we got from the Industry Advisory Board, which indicates the member companies are satisfied with our work thus far and that we are on-track,” said Jason Locklin, director of the New Materials Institute and the UGA site director for CB2.

Project updates and pitches for new projects are the two main agenda items for CB2’s spring meetings. The pitched seed projects are then shaped to benefit the greatest number of CB2’s member companies, representing many different industries: Ford, Hyundai, 3M, Boehringer Ingelheim, Kimberly-Clark, Shaw, Sherwin Williams, as well as bioplastic resin manufacturers and packaging manufacturers. Through annual fees, they help share the cost of developing the technologies produced by CB2’s research teams, with the goal of adapting the technologies. Each member company is striving for greater sustainability in its product line.

“I am excited about the seed proposals pitched by the industry members for 2021,” said Locklin. “The ideas represent technologies that are desired by many companies involved in CB2, and the ideas present both a good fit and an intriguing challenge for the variety of research expertise we have among the four university sites. These projects also represent tremendous learning opportunities for our students.” Project selections for 2021 will be finalized when the board meets again this fall.

Insight from industry

The two projects being led by UGA are good examples of research that could take years to exit a laboratory if industry was not invested—financially and hands-on— and awaiting a timely outcome. Having industry involved helps the researchers better understand its needs, including recognizing what’s readily available and cost effective. The xylan project, for example, is focused on identifying plant properties which may be useful in creating bio-based polymers for materials and products. (The glycolic urethane project is focused on developing faster methods for screening enzymes that will deconstruct polyurethanes, which will aid in the development of completely compostable high-barrier, multilayer packaging.)

Breeanna Urbanowicz, who leads the xylan project, has investigated plant properties, with a focus on xylan, for years. In her spring update to the IAB, Urbanowicz noted that in consultations with her industry mentors to discuss test results, the mentors helped her see potential in another abundant polysaccharide from plants, because it’s commonly seen in their industrial waste streams. Based on this insight, her team is now exploring two naturally existing biopolymers that possess potential for replacing petroleum-based polymers currently used to manufacture single-use plastic packaging. Urbanowicz is an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, in the Franklin College of Arts & Sciences; she is based at the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center.

The xylan project, like all CB2 projects, is focused on non-food sourced materials for bioplastics. CB2 emphasizes use of agricultural byproducts, so that agricultural land is not utilized to grow crops for bioplastics and biocomposites.

Meeting held virtually due to COVID-19

The semi-annual meeting of researchers and CB2’s industry members was held virtually due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Faculty from CB2’s four research sites noted their work has been slowed by the virus, but forecasted their projects would quickly be on-track again once on-campus research ramps back up.

The UGA New Materials Institute’s participation as a research site for CB2 is supported by NSF Award #1841319.

Designing products for a better outcome following a useful life

Kat Gilmore on April 20, 2020

Representatives from Shaw recently interviewed Jason Locklin, director of the UGA New Materials Institute, about the Institute’s research partnerships with industry and why the Institute focuses on single-use packaging as a means to reduce the mismanaged plastic waste that is accumulating in our environment. The UGA New Materials Institute is among 10 organizations being highlighted this year by Shaw Industries Group Inc., as part of the company’s new sustain[HUMAN]abilityTM recognition program.

Shaw Industries has partnered with the New Materials Institute to bring greater sustainability to their product line. The company also explores sustainability solutions with the Institute and its collaborators by being a member of the Industry Advisory Board for the National Science Foundation Industry & University Cooperative Research Center for Bioplastics and Biocomposites, known as CB2. The New Materials Institute serves as a research site for CB2, along with Iowa State University, Washington State University, and North Dakota State University.

Read the interview from sustainablebrands.com