The REMADE Institute has extended the deadline for education and workforce development (EWD) projects as part of the organization’s fifth Request for Proposals (RFP). Letters of intent and project abstracts for EWD projects are now due by 5 p.m. EDT on Thursday, July 1, instead of June 3, the original deadline. Submissions for the RFP’s transformational research, development and demonstration, and traditional research and development modules closed on June 3. The institute extended the deadline for EWD to provide as much opportunity as possible for organizations to engage with REMADE on this important initiative, a REMADE spokesperson said.
“REMADE and our partners are committed to addressing knowledge gaps and training incumbent and emerging workers as the U.S.’s transition to a circular economy accelerates,” says Nabil Nasr, CEO of REMADE. “In addition, our workforce initiatives increase U.S. manufacturing competitiveness and ensure that our nation’s researchers, engineers, technicians, and others stay on the cutting edge.”
A $140 million public-private partnership the Energy Department established in 2017, West Henrietta, N.Y.-based REMADE (Reducing EMbodied-Energy And Decreasing Emissions) assembles representatives from across the supply chain—manufacturers, recyclers, trade associations, academia, and national laboratories—to create projects that increase jobs, reduce embodied energy and greenhouse gas emissions, and increase the supply and use of recycled materials. Issued in May, the institute’s latest RFP represents $50 million in available funding, including $1 million for education and workforce development proposals. The EWD projects must develop short courses to educate, train, and develop incumbent workers in reuse, remanufacturing, recovery, and recycling. EWD topics include:
- Advanced Materials Separation Technologies.
- Chemical Recycling of Plastics.
- Simulation Techniques to Optimize Material Use in Manufacturing and Recycling.
- Condition assessment for remanufacturing.
- Reverse logistics for remanufacturing.
- Cleaning for remanufacturing.
- Design for remanufacturing, recycling, and/or reuse.
- Systems thinking in material management: benefits and tools.
Within a five-year period, REMADE is developing solutions that are capable of:
- Saving one quad of energy, equal to the electrical use by all U.S. households per year.
- A 20% decrease in U.S. manufacturing’s greenhouse gas emissions in metals, polymers/plastics, fibers, and electronic products.
- Increasing the supply and use of recycled materials by more than 40 million metric tons per year.
- Creating up to 700,000 direct and indirect jobs, enhancing the U.S. economy and increasing the nation’s manufacturing competitiveness.
Involved with REMADE since its inception, ISRI is a partner in one of the selected projects from the institute’s fourth round of funding announced in March, along with the University of Michigan, Ford Motor Co., Novelis, Argonne National Laboratory, The Aluminum Association, and Light Metal Consultants.
The project, Material and Vehicle Design for High-Value Recycling of Aluminum and Steel Automotive Sheet, aims to increase automotive sheet metal EOL post-consumer recycled content and reduce vehicle embodied energy and primary feedstock consumption. ISRI and its partners will produce an analytical design-for-recycling tool for automotive sheet metal. This will produce new knowledge on how vehicle design, recycling infrastructure, and sheet manufacturing process decisions affect EOL sheet recycling.
If ISRI members have projects that align with the EWD section of REMADE’s current RFP, details can be found here. For specifics on the institute’s 2020 EWD Roadmap, which is guiding the RFP, review the roadmap here.
Photo courtesy of Matej from Pexels.
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