KU researchers to support sustainable manufacturing through joint Schmidt Sciences/Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research grant
LAWRENCE – University of Kansas scientists are playing leading roles in a real-life waste-to-treasure story poised to create a more sustainable future for humanity.
Through a five-year, $10 million Schmidt Sciences Virtual Institute on Feedstocks of the Future and Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) grant to establish the new multi-institution Center for Mineral and Metal Oxide Removal from Biomass (CMORE) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, KU will partner with other universities, private industry and a national laboratory to develop a process to convert agricultural leftovers and municipal solid waste (MSW) that would otherwise pile up in landfills into nutrients for farmland and sustainable ingredients for manufacturing everyday products.
There is no shortage of raw material to fuel this effort. About half of the 292 million tons of waste generated in the United States in 2018 ended up in landfills, according to data maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency. This waste contains building blocks, or feedstocks, that can be collected, broken down through grinding and chemical processing, and rebuilt for use again and again.
This circularity — manufacturing, use, recycling and reuse — can reduce landfill waste, which is the aim of researchers in KU’s Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis and their partners at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Anellotech, ADM, Idaho National Laboratory, Michigan Technological University, University of Idaho and the University of San Luis Potosi. Together they will develop a process to sort municipal waste, isolate usable plant-based materials, and design storable and transportable feedstocks for manufacturing products. Prior to preparing the feedstocks, nutrients that would otherwise be lost to the landfill will be extracted for use as soil nutrition additives. Once the team demonstrates a feedstock manufacturing process, it can be regionalized to reduce both local landfill use and transportation costs of municipal waste.
“Our team’s goal is to demonstrate a technology that can transform diverse sources of chemical feedstocks, ranging from agricultural leftovers to municipal solid waste, into solid pellets that can be easily processed to make everyday products,” said Bala Subramaniam, Dan F. Servey Distinguished Professor of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering and director of the CEBC, who will lead the project from KU. “Successfully solving this challenge will revolutionize biorefineries and transform agro-based economies like Kansas and beyond into chemical manufacturing hubs that will be sustained for generations.”
Two CEBC member companies — ADM and Johnson Matthey — will provide guidance on scaling up technologies developed through this project.
“Johnson Matthey is excited to continue to deepen our relationship with CEBC by supporting the Schmidt Sciences VIFF technology project initiative,” said Jerry Springs, director of research & development at Johnson Matthey. “We believe that thermo-catalytic conversion of biomass and municipal solid waste to low-carbon fuels, chemicals and materials will play a critically important role in the energy transition.”
KU’s CEBC is a research leader in the field of biomass conversion into renewable chemicals and materials and has vast experience with industrial collaborations to develop sustainable chemical technologies. This project contributes to the mission of Schmidt Sciences to “transform life on Earth and in the ocean for the better, now and in the future” and that of FFAR to “drive systemic change by taking a broad view of U.S. agriculture, considering its social, environmental and economic benefits and impacts”. This project also highlights KU’s strength in research focused on earth, energy & environment, which is one of the university’s five strategic research themes. Research in this area advances understanding of the dimensions and impacts of climate change on human and natural systems and develops new technologies that promote decarbonization with an ultimate goal of sustaining the life of the planet and its inhabitants.
“This research will enable a circular economy of waste products that is critical to building a sustainable future,” said Shelley Hooks, vice chancellor for research. “Through research partnerships with universities, industry and foundations, KU researchers can create solutions that can be immediately adopted and make a positive impact on both the environment and economy.”
The Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis is a multi-departmental research center focused on protecting the planet, promoting prosperity and enriching scholarship through diversity.
