Troy University receives $2.7M grant to advance plastics recycling

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the United States Department of Commerce that’s based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, has awarded Troy University, Troy, Alabama, with a $2.7 million research grant to be used by the university’s Center for Materials and Manufacturing Sciences to research new methods for recycling plastics. According to a news release from Troy University, the four-year grant will fund instrumentation, staffing of scientists and research stipends for students. 

This grant, which follows a $3.2 million NIST grant Troy University received in 2018, will fund research into recycling polymers into new hybrid materials, using hemp fiber to reinforce plastics and the characterization and testing of recycled polyethylene (PE).

“The recently established Center for Materials and Manufacturing Sciences at Troy University will focus on the recycling of plastics and the development of standards for the recycled plastics,” says Govind Menon, director of Troy’s School of Science and Technology. 

Menon says the university plans to research different ways to mechanically recycle plastics. He adds that the university currently has a team of four people who will be involved in the research.

The center will serve as an integrated, multidisciplinary research facility and will enable the university to build partnerships with the region’s polymer and plastics industry in order to increase their competitiveness in the global marketplace.