Friday, U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) announced that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded a $3,200,000 grant to Troy University to build a new facility for researching recycled plastic materials.
“The new facility at Troy University will serve as an avenue for groundbreaking research, creating an environment for students to learn the issues involving polymers and develop impactful solutions for the plastics industry,” said Senator Shelby. “I am confident that this funding will promote economic development throughout Troy and the surrounding area by training the workforce of the future.”
The $3.2 million grant from NIST will provide Troy with a three-year grant to fund research involving the properties of polymers in plastics during the course of recycling and manufacturing. The new facility will give students the opportunity to learn about the issues and solutions related to plastics recycling. The work at the new center will be guided by an industry road mapping exercise and technical advisory board. The first phase of the funding is primarily intended to develop existing labs to include capabilities in polymer characterization, testing, and processing.
Troy University’s new Center for Materials and Manufacturing Sciences (CMMS) will serve as a fully integrated multi-disciplinary research facility that will aid across majors and academic ranks. Undergraduate students will be encouraged to enter into research early in their academic career in order to develop a sustained and deeper understanding of the field. Faculty researchers and students will form the mainstay for the Center. The establishment of the center will facilitate and enhance Troy University’s present partnering with the local polymer and plastics industry in order to increase competitiveness in the marketplace. This will assist in improving the targeted industries’ ability to retain and increase job production while also allowing for expansion of products and markets – both locally and globally.
According to original reporting by National Geographic’s Laura Parker, 9.1 billion tons of plastics have been created since the plastics industry burst on the scene in the 1950s. Only nine percent of that has been recycled. It is estimated that by the middle of this century there will be more plastics floating around the ocean on a per ton basis than fish. It takes approximately 400 years for platics to degrade in a land fill.
To read the National Geographic story:
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/plastic-produced-recycling-waste-ocean-trash-debris-environment/
Richard Shelby is the Chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee.
