Natural Polymers as Sustainable Materials for the 21st Century

Material innovation is difficult and requires the alignment of enabling science and technology, critical scale and customers that take risks jointly to go from discovery to commercialization. At the forefront of these innovations are natural polymers that can be obtained from renewable feedstocks using chemical and biotechnological processes. While consumers are beginning to embrace sustainable materials as a gateway to circularity, there is no tolerance for a decrease in performance and their regulatory compliance compared to incumbent, synthetic materials such as plastics, which today face significant challenges with its end-of-life pollution to the environment. This symposium takes inspiration and lessons learned from the technological commercial growth of plastics in the 20th century. Fostering collaborations, creating synergies, and securing funding is essential to accelerate the discovery, mass production and implementation of natural polymers as the 21st-century material. To that end, the industry-led ACS Green Chemistry Institute Natural Polymers Consortium aims to catalyze the sustainable development, production, and application of natural polymers in material science, and the foundational science that drives the acceptance and inclusion in policy and regulatory processes. This symposium will build on the growing momentum of recent engagements with companies along different supply chains, as well as academics and NGOs interested in developing relevant chemistries. Relevant topics include the extraction and application of polysaccharides (cellulose, starch, chitin, etc.), lignin, proteins, and polynucleotides. Also in scope for this symposium are material bio-engineering technologies to produce natural polymers (such as PHAs) and investigation into the natural/enzymatic degradation of natural polymers.

Hanno Erythropel, Ph.D., Yale University

Lars Ratjen

Paul Anastas, Yale University

Peter Licence, The University of Nottingham

Hanno Erythropel, Ph.D., Yale University

Lars Ratjen

Paul Anastas, Yale University

Peter Licence, The University of Nottingham