REMADE Institute to invest $35M in recycling projects

The Reducing Embodied-Energy And Decreasing Emissions (REMADE) Institute, West Henrietta, New York, has issued a request for proposals (RFP) to invest up to $35 million for research and development of transformational technologies to increase the recovery, reuse, remanufacturing and recycling of metals, polymers, fibers and e-scrap. The $35 million investment will be matched by project participants for a total investment of up to $70 million, REMADE states in a news release on the RFP. 

REMADE provides up to $5 million per project for transformational research and development (R&D) projects and $2 million per project for traditional R&D projects. According to REMADE’s website, transformational R&D projects develop technology solutions and demonstrate the potential to transform the recycling and remanufacturing industries, while traditional R&D projects develop tools and technologies consistent with research priorities listed here. 

According to REMADE’s website, letters of intent and project abstracts are due Sept. 14 at 5 p.m. EDT, and all proposals are due Oct. 19 at 5 p.m. EDT. The institute will notify proposal teams of a final decision by December. Anticipated start dates for proposed projects is May 2021. 

In particular, REMADE is making it a priority to focus on the plastic value chain by seeking proposals that will increase the domestic recycling of plastics since using recycled plastic instead of virgin plastic can reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

“With the challenges facing industry today, it is increasingly important to improve U.S. manufacturing competitiveness,” says Nabil Nasr, REMADE CEO. “Our partnership of 100 industry, national laboratory and academic innovators are working together to reduce the energy and environmental burden of domestic manufacturing while delivering value to industry, the economy and the environment.”

REMADE has invested $20 million in 39 public-private partnership projects to date. These projects have focused on driving down the cost of technologies needed to reuse, recycle and remanufacture materials.