Plastic Upcycling in the BOTTLE™ Consortium

• Dr. Kat Knauer, Research Program Manager, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, & the BOTTLE Consortium
• Sponsored by the Golden Gate Polymer Forum
• Online via Zoom, $5 donation/free, Registration required (registration deadline is Dec. 6th at 1pm)

Abstract: Bio-Optimized Technologies to keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment (BOTTLE™) is a U.S. Department of Energy multi-organization consortium focused on developing new chemical upcycling strategies for today’s plastics and redesigning tomorrow’s plastics to be recyclable-by-design. This talk introduces the BOTTLE Consortium and presents several research highlights from efforts to date including:·

• Catalytic hydrogenation of polyolefins
• Enzymatic hydrolysis of PET
• Upcycling PET monomers into new high-performance thermosets
• Circular, biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoates

Techno-economic analysis, life cycle assessment, and supply chain modeling will also be highlighted as critical tools to facilitate the development of economical and sustainable approaches for recycling and redesigning plastics. Insight into consumer actions to grow the circular economy will be presented and discussed.

Bio: Dr. Kat Knauer is a polymer scientist who has dedicated her scientific career to solving the plastic waste problem. She has a PhD in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Southern Mississippi. She completed the BASF Leadership Development Program (LDP) in 2018 and assumed a Senior Scientist role in BASF’s Plastics Division. Her research efforts in advanced recycling technologies led her to leading the Materials Innovation R&D team at Novoloop (formerly BioCellection), a San Francisco Bay Area chemical recycling startup. At Novoloop she helped develop a technology to convert post-consumer polyethylene waste into valuable chemical building blocks for upcycling into new high-performing polymer applications. Recently, Dr. Knauer joined the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the BOTTLE Consortium where she is developing sustainable technologies to chemically upcycle today’s existing plastic waste streams and develop new plastics for the future that are recyclable by design.