Chemistry Ph.D. students Shayna Kohl (left) and Anvi Surapaneni (right) carry a discarded tire away from a harbor on Catalina Island, where trash often washes up from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Their advisor, USC chemistry professor Travis Williams, and USC pharmacy professor Clay C. C. Wang regularly visit Catalina with their students to collect trash for joint research on repurposing ocean plastics into useful products. (Vanessa Codilla/USC Wrigley Institute)
Wrigley Institute, USC Sea Grant get nearly $2M to turn ocean plastics into sustainable products
Original story by Leah Shore and Charlotte Stevenson
The USC Sea Grant Program was awarded nearly $2 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop a disruptive and sustainable method for upcycling ocean-bound plastic waste across Southern California waterways, and to investigate the psychology behind eco-conscious choices.
The multi-disciplinary project team, which will be co-led by the USC Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability, will collect local marine microplastics and other plastic trash, and leverage a new hybrid chemical/biological approach to convert the materials into building blocks for sustainable laundry detergents and eco-friendly fabric dyes. They will also examine social barriers to consumer adoption of such trash-derived products and familiarize public audiences with these emerging technologies through an integrated educational outreach program.
Principal investigators for the project include:
- Joe Árvai, Director, USC Wrigley Institute, Dana and David Dornsife Chair, and professor of psychology, biological sciences, and environmental studies
- Karla Heidelberg, Director, USC Sea Grant, and professor of the practice of biological sciences and environmental studies
- Richard W. Roberts, professor of chemistry, chemical engineering and materials science, biomedical engineering, and molecular and computational biology
- Clay C. C. Wang, professor of pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences
- Travis J. Williams, professor of chemistry