SEATTLE (Recycling Monster): The REMADE Institute under the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) has announced a grant of $1 million to a recycling research project carried out by researchers in The Henry Samueli School of Engineering and UCI’s Institute of Transportation Studies. The University of Califiornia too has granted $1 million in support of the project.
The two-year long project aims to devise methods to improve California’s economy and environment through better recycling practices. It targets to save landfill space and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and deliver significant enhancements to the state’s circular economy.
Jean-Daniel Saphores, UCI professor of civil and environmental engineering, who heads the project, noted that the research project will study the flows of recyclable items to deliver a stable market for them. Moreover, it will create awareness about energy implications of expanded recycling, by focusing on energy and greenhouse gas emissions in connection with recycling and reuse of materials.
The team will make use of outputs from the California State Freight Forecasting Model developed by the California Department of Transportation to develop a new computational model to track flow of recycled materials.