REMADE Announces $19.6 Million in New Technology Research to Accelerate the U.S.’s Transition to a Circular Economy - Institute Selects 14 Projects in Latest Round of Funding

The REMADE Institute is pleased to announce today that it has awarded $19.6 million in new technology research, selecting 14 new research, development and demonstration projects as part of the Institute’s latest round of funding.

Half of the projects involve research at the demonstration phase, responding directly to the nation’s need to meet multiple U.S. energy, environmental, and economic goals.

"These projects underscore the importance of manufacturing and materials innovations toward advancing a circular economy," said Dr. Christopher Saldaña, Director of DOE’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO). "The partnership between DOE and the REMADE Institute serves as a conduit for catalyzing transformative practices that not only bolster America's manufacturing expertise but also accentuate our nation's commitment to environmental stewardship."

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, manufacturing accounts for 25% of U.S. energy consumption at a cost of approximately $150 billion. Based on data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, industry is the single largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the nation, at 30%.

REMADE Chief Executive Officer Nabil Nasr said these are just some of the main reasons why a circular approach to manufacturing — “make-use-reuse-remanufacture-recycle” — is so important, and why REMADE is dedicated to the adoption of a Circular Economy.

“A Circular Economy is imperative,” Nasr said. “It’s critical in reducing industry’s energy consumption and emissions in the race to net-zero by 2050. At the same time, a circular approach is vital to increasing U.S. manufacturing’s competitiveness, increasing the resiliency of the nation’s supply chain, and creating new clean economy jobs.”

REMADE Chief Technology Officer Magdi Azer said the Institute’s research seeks to increase circularity for four energy-intensive material classes: metals, plastics/polymers, fibers, and electronic scrap, or e-scrap.

“REMADE’s projects address multiple aspects of the Circular Economy, including systems analysis, circular design, remanufacturing and reuse, recovery and recycling,” Azer said. “These latest R&D projects will, for example, explore better ways to remanufacture cast iron components; remove contaminants from molten aluminum scrap; convert the midsoles of used shoes into a newer, more sustainable foam for footwear; develop machine learning tools to advance the sorting of textiles, design recyclable multilayer flexible packaging; and increase machine learning tools to better determine the state-of-health for used hybrid and electric vehicle batteries.”  

For more detailed information, read the full press release at the button below. A list of all REMADE R&D projects and their descriptions, including the 14 projects announced today, can be found at the “Research” button below.

REMADE Releases New Funding - Up to $20 Million in Funding to Accelerate the Transition to a Circular Economy

The REMADE Institute is proud to announce its sixth Request for Proposals (RFP), representing $20 million in investment to sustain U.S. manufacturing and accelerate the U.S.’s transition to a Circular Economy.

The Institute is seeking technology proposals for research, development and demonstration (RD&D) projects that develop and demonstrate tools and technologies consistent with REMADE’s goals to reduce energy and emissions; achieve better than cost and energy parity; and promote the widespread application of new enabling technologies across multiple industries. RD&D projects must align with one or more of the Institute’s focus areas: systems analysis and integration; design for reuse, remanufacturing, recovery and recycling (design for Re-X); manufacturing materials optimization; remanufacturing; and/or recovery and recycling.

R&D Project Spotlight: Condition Assessment of Used Electronics for Remanufacturing

Electronics are an integral part of every industry sector from healthcare to aerospace, automotive, consumer electronics, and more. There is tremendous value in developing ways to reuse printed circuit board assemblies (PCBs) in remanufactured products, resulting in reduced cost and environmental impact.

During remanufacturing, a previously used, worn, or non-functional product or part is returned to “like-new” or “better-than-new” condition from both a quality and performance perspective. One factor that limits remanufacturing is the inability to detect solder joint and interconnect failures in printed circuit boards (PCBs). Although these defects, which account for 13% of all electronics failures, can be easily and effectively repaired once they have been identified, detecting these types of failures on used electronics is costly because inspections are performed manually.

To reduce this barrier and increase the number of PCBs that can be remanufactured, the R&D project team evaluated several inspection methods to determine whether they successfully identified defects and could be cost-effectively implemented. The team is currently building an inspection system and decision support tool that will be validated at one of the team member’s remanufacturing facilities. 

Once implemented, this technology is expected to increase PCB remanufacturing by 25-35% and reduce embodied energy by 30%.

Project Participants:

The Power of a Technology Portfolio: Electronic Waste Recycling & Reuse

The Power of a Technology Portfolio: Electronic Waste Recycling & Reuse

Americans generated 6.9 MMT of electronic waste in 2019, recycling only 15% of that amount. E-waste can result in serious harm to human health and the environment, so REMADE is working to increase the recycling rates of electronics. Recovering e-waste’s precious metals also reduces dependence on finite raw materials and increases the resiliency of the US supply chain.

According to EE Times, a well-regarded industry publication, many electronic parts or products are remanufactured, including consumer products such as smartphones and PCs. The global market is estimated at $80 billion, and demand has surged during the COVID pandemic. This is good news, but REMADE knows more can be done.

The Institute has multiple e-waste R&D projects working to increase recycling rates and recover high value metals, including those focused on collection, condition assessment, and exploring the recovery of copper and other precious metals from e-waste.

Our current portfolio of e-waste R&D projects – conducted in partnership with Caterpillar, RIT and others - is capable of saving up to 27 petajoules of embodied energy per year, up to 200,000 metric tons of materials savings annually, and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by 1.8 million metric tons per year.

For more information, read our 2020 Impact Report here.