More than $60m USD have been devoted to projects for paving the way to a circular economy in the US

The United States Department of Energy announced a handful of new projects related to the circular economy this past fall. In the Bioenergy Technologies Office multi-topic funding opportunity, several projects were selected to work on organic waste.

In this funding opportunity, projects cover a variety of technology areas including development of logistical and sorting systems for handling municipal solid waste, finding synergies between wastewater treatment and algae cultivation, and conversion of organic waste into biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower. A total of ten projects will be working in this space totalling $36m USD.

And in October, the Bioenergy Technologies Office and Advanced Manufacturing Office announced $27m USD in work related to improve recycling technologies. These projects include chemical and biological catalysis approaches to deconstruct plastic waste. In addition, several research groups will also be exploring the design and development of new plastics that are specifically designed for recyclability. Projects are currently under negotiations and are expected to run for three years.