Circular-by-Design Materials Research
NREL's circular-by-design materials research capabilities support development of industrially relevant, cost-competitive, and performance-advantaged materials from renewable and waste carbon sources.
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Our researchers seek to deconstruct heterogeneous and polymeric materials into usable building blocks that can be recycled or upcycled in new polymer syntheses.
Areas of focus include:
- Chemical and biochemical catalytic systems to recover useful molecules from plastics and textiles
- Design of polymeric materials for enhanced functionalities, performance, and recyclability.
Recovery and Use of Waste Plastics
Our focus is to valorize waste plastics, textiles, and rubber through innovative and scalable processes. We innovate mechanical, biocatalytic, and chemical recycling technologies to impact the largest variety of potential feedstocks.
Polymers and Performance-Advantaged Bioproducts
Polymers are now produced globally at nearly 1 trillion pounds per year, primarily from petrochemical feedstocks. NREL seeks to create new materials from bio-based feedstocks and building blocks created from the deconstruction of waste plastics. An additional design point for the materials of the future is easier recycling at the end of use.
BOTTLE Consortium
The NREL-led BOTTLE™ is a U.S. Department of Energy multi-organization consortium focused on developing improved catalytic and biocatalytic recycling strategies for today's plastics and redesigning tomorrow's plastics to be recyclable-by-design.
How NREL's Circular-by-Design Material Capabilities Impact the Bioeconomy
Explore how NREL research strengthens the bio-based materials industry.
Recyclable, Plant-Based Material Could Take a Spin on Next Generation of Wind Turbines
NREL researchers successfully build a wind turbine blade with their novel resin.
Pick Your Polymer Properties and This NREL Tool Predicts How To Achieve Them With Biomass
Artificial intelligence speeds the discovery of more sustainable, higher-performing polymers.
Scientists Discover Enzymes That Could Make It Cheaper To Recycle Waste Polyester Textiles and Bottles Than Making Them From Petroleum
Using machine learning, an NREL-led team discovered variants of "plastic-eating" enzymes adapted to or deconstructing all varieties of PET—even durable crystalline varieties.
Enzymes and Bacteria Sent on Mission To Upcycle Plastics
NREL and collaborators design special space capsule for autonomous culturing.
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Contact Bob Allen to leverage these capabilities and expertise learn more about partnering with us.
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