The REMADE Institute, a 148-member public-private partnership established by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) with an initial investment of $140 million, announces a new training bootcamp to accelerate the nation’s transition to a Circular Economy. The live, two-day, online bootcamp in Advanced Fibers Recycling — part of the Institute’s REMADE Academy — will take place this week. The training, which focuses on paper recycling, encompasses six courses, and leads to an awareness-level certificate, is scheduled to run from 11:00 am to 4:30 pm ET next Tuesday, June 21, and from 11:00 am to 4:30 pm ET next Wednesday, June 22.
REMADE CEO Nabil Nasr said the upcoming recycling bootcamp is part of REMADE’s ongoing efforts to train workers across the United States in next-generation technologies. REMADE training enables the U.S.’s transition to a Circular Economy which reduces energy consumption; decreases greenhouse gas emissions; reduces the use of raw and virgin, or primary, materials; and increases the supply and use of recycled, or secondary, materials. Additional benefits of a circular approach include an increase in manufacturing competitiveness, an increase in supply chain resiliency, and a decrease in dependence on raw materials from outside the U.S.
“For U.S. manufacturing to stay competitive and have ready access to a resilient supply chain, manufacturers nationwide must accelerate their transition to a Circular Economy, and their workers must be trained in next-generation, circular technologies,” Nasr said.
Fibers recycling, including paper recycling, is critically important in the U.S. and around the world. Here in the U.S., in our current curbside recycling system, paper and cardboard are frequently contaminated, resulting in more than 17.2 million tons, or 25%, of municipal solid waste (MSW) paper and paperboard ending up in a landfill. Through the Institute’s ongoing research, REMADE seeks to remove contaminants, increase recycling rates, and as a result, increase the supply of recycled papers to manufacturers in the U.S.
The bootcamp’s six courses are led by Kecheng Li, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemical and Paper Engineering at Western Michigan University (WMU), and are taught by professors and experts with WMU, Resource Recycling Systems, and other organizations. Courses featured in the bootcamp are:
- Paper Recovery & Processing With a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) System
- Manufacturing of Paper From Recycling Fibers – Process, Products & Technologies
- Fiber Properties & Paper Physics
- Printing Inks & Deinking in the Paper Recycling Process
- Paper Recycling Pilot Plant & Industry Tour
- Stickies & Organic Materials Characterization & Removal in the Paper Recycling Process
The bootcamp is open to all. Innovators, researchers and leaders in industry, academia, government, and the non-profit sector who are interested in learning more about the U.S.’s transition to a Circular Economy, especially in the areas of paper recycling and fibers recycling, are especially encouraged to attend. A certificate of completion will be issued to participants upon successful passage of a quiz to validate course attendance.