Bio-Optimized Technologies to Keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment (BOTTLE)

Gregg Beckham, Alberta Carpenter, Taraka Dale, Adam Guss, Christopher Tassone, Meltem Urgun-Demirtas, Linda Broadbelt, Eugene Chen, Jennifer DuBois, John McGeehan, Yuriy Roman-Leshkov

Research output: NRELPresentation

Abstract

Plastics have revolutionized modern life, but reliance on these fossil-based materials that persist for centuries is causing a pollution crisis and contributing to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To develop new technologies to address this problem, the Bio-Optimized Technologies to keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment (BOTTLE) Consortium will deliver selective, scalable technologies to enable cost-effective recycling, upcycling, and increased energy efficiency. BOTTLE is an interdisciplinary team of experts that aim to develop selective, scalable processes to deconstruct and upcycle today's plastics and thermosets, redesign tomorrow's plastics to be recyclable-by-design (RBD) and derived from both bio-based and plastic waste-based feedstocks, work with industrial partners across the value chain to catalyze the circular economy for plastics, and leverage AMO and BETO investments in analysis-guided R&D, integrated process development, chemical and biological catalysis, materials characterization, modeling, and data science. BOTTLE is guided by techno-economic analysis (TEA) and supply chain-based life-cycle assessment (LCA). BOTTLE comprises members from ten partner institutions. Primary outcomes to date include establishment of a full consortium, impactful, benchmarking analyses that will be important for the plastics recycling and upcycling community, and multiple impactful, high-impact publications across the breadth of our research portfolio.
Original languageAmerican English
Number of pages105
StatePublished - 2021

Publication series

NamePresented at the U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) 2021 Project Peer Review, 8-12, 15-16, and 22-26 March 2021

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/PR-2A00-79492

Keywords

  • bio-optimized
  • BOTTLE
  • environment
  • landfills
  • thermoplastics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Bio-Optimized Technologies to Keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment (BOTTLE)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this