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Sustainable Manufacturing
January 26, 2017 | University of UtahEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Rochester Institute of Technology’s Golisano Institute for Sustainability (GIS) was selected this week by the U.S. Department of Energy, as part of its Manufacturing USA initiative, to lead its new Reducing Embodied-Energy and Decreasing Emissions (REMADE) Institute — a national coalition of leading universities and companies that will forge new clean energy initiatives deemed critical in keeping U.S. manufacturing competitive.
The University of Utah has been actively involved in developing new metal and material recycling technologies. Professor Rajamani’s research group has invented a new technology to sort aluminum and copper from recycled automobile scrap. PHOTO CREDIT: Dave Titensor/University of Utah
The REMADE Institute, under the RIT-led Sustainable Manufacturing Innovation Alliance (SMIA), will leverage up to $70 million in federal funding that will be matched by $70 million in private cost-share commitments from industry and other consortium members, including 85 partners.
The institute will focus its efforts on driving down the cost of technologies essential to reuse, recycle and remanufacture materials such as metals, fibers, polymers and electronic waste and aims to achieve a 50% improvement in overall energy efficiency by 2027. These efficiency measures could save billions of dollars in energy costs and improve U.S. economic competitiveness through innovative new manufacturing techniques, small business opportunities and offer new training and jobs for American workers.
The Department of Metallurgical Engineering, the College of Mines and Earth Sciences, the Global Change and Sustainability Center, and other entities at the University of Utah will work in collaboration with Idaho National Lab, Argonne National Lab, University of Illinois and other leading universities, national labs and industrial partners in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy. In all, 26 universities, 44 companies, seven national labs, 26 industry trade associations and foundations and three states (New York, Colorado and Utah) are engaged in the effort.
Economic impact and workforce development
REMADE Institute partners have the following five-year goals:
- 5% to 10% improvement in manufacturing material efficiency by reducing manufacturing material waste
- 50% increase in remanufacturing applications
- 30% increase in efficiency of remanufacturing operations
- 30% increase in recycling efficiencies
- A targeted 50 percent increase in sales for the U.S. manufacturing industry to $21.5 billion and the creation of a next-generation recycling and manufacturing workforce.
The REMADE Institute also will develop and implement an education and workforce development program that will fill workforce gaps identified by its industry, government and academic partners and build the next generation of the recycling and remanufacturing workforce.
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