Aug 9 2006
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) has awarded a $50,000 grant to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) to advance research on sustainable and biodegradable plastics made from agricultural and forestry products produced in Wisconsin.
Rod Nilsestuen, secretary of DATCP, will formally announce the award today at UWM. The ceremony begins at 10:30 a.m. in room E250 of UWM’s Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Building, 3200 N. Cramer St.
The research project, headed by Sarah Gong, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at UWM, is expected to strengthen the state’s strong plastics industry and encourage technology transfer by involving several state businesses. Gong is collaborating with Lih-Sheng Turng, co-director of the Polymer Engineering Center at UW-Madison.
The grant money is part of a $1 million fund available through the Governor’s Consortium on Bio-based Industry that offers businesses and educational institutions access to start-up activities that will grow bio-based industries in the state.
Bio-based plastics are made of renewable resources such as corn, soybeans, milk or other agricultural products. Gong’s research will focus on expanding their commercial applications. Bio-based plastics have gained increasing momentum in recent years because, unlike petroleum-based plastics, they minimize dependency on crude oil, gas and coal, and help to control the emissions of global warming agents such as CO2. Bio-based plastics are also largely biodegradable.
The research will investigate the use of aspen wood fibers, kenaf and jute fibers, as well as those from recycled newspapers, magazines and shopping bags, in creating new plastic materials, says Gong. The project also aims to expand the applications of these new plastics into areas such as manufacturing of electronics, medical and biomedical devices, and automobiles.