The United States generates millions of tons of plastic waste every year.
The United States generates millions of tons of plastic waste every year. That waste is worth potentially billions of dollars, but the majority of plastic just winds up in landfills, where it produces significant greenhouse gas emissions and not much else.
Companies like BASF, one of the largest petrochemical and plastic producers in the world, have both financial and climate-based incentives to invest in programs that recycle, reuse, and recirculate plastic products. BASF partnered with students at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciecnes (SEAS) last fall to map out the current state of U.S. and international plastic recycling programs. BASF was the client for a section of “ES96: Engineering Problem Solving and Design Project,” a core course for third-year SEAS students pursuing S.B. engineering degrees.
“We wanted the students to become more aware of how complex these issues are, with the hope that one day they can contribute in even more meaningful ways than the class project and feedback to BASF as the client,” said Tom Holcombe, Head of Collaboration & Scouting North America at BASF. “Perhaps this ignites a spark of curiosity that leads into a career around creating industrially scalable solutions, industrial policy, or just moving the needle a little bit in a direction that benefits people and the planet.”
Read more at: Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science
