The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced $9.5 in investments to advance the development of sustainable bioproduct manufacturing.
According to a Dec. 20 news release, the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Bioproduct Pilot Program will fund three successful projects that focus on the research and development of value-added products from agriculture commodities.
“Adopting a more circular economy ensures that wealth and other economic benefits in the form of jobs and other opportunities are created, and stay, in rural communities,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in the release. “We must support and incentivize practices like these, because it’s what consumers want — and what farmers, and our planet, need.”
The three recipients of the awards include the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, for a project to convert food waste into biodegradable, polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA)-based bioplastics that has a variety of uses; the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, for a project to convert swine manure into biobinders that increase the quality of recycled asphalt; and Soylei Innovations, of Ames, Iowa, for a project that seeks to convert soybean oil into thermoplastic rubber for pavements, the release reported.
“Each of the recommended projects includes collaborations with universities and companies that can bridge the gap between invention and the marketplace as well as produce stronger and more effective outcomes,” Dr. Dionne Toombs, acting director of NIFA, said in the release. “All three of them also have compelling benefits that advance environmental justice and spur economic opportunity for underserved communities.”
Funding for these projects will come through the Bioproduct Pilot Program, which seeks to grow the nation’s rural economy while lowering risks associated with bioproducts, according to the release. The program is advancing the USDA’s goal of creating circular, local economies in which natural resources are used, consumed and regenerated in a way that is sustainable long-term.
