Innovating for a Cleaner, Greener Future
Plastics have revolutionized modern life, yet they now drive a growing environmental and human health crisis. This isn’t just a pollution issue, it’s a systems challenge.
Solving it requires rethinking how plastics are designed, used, and recovered. The Wrigley Institute’s Future of Plastics Initiative advances forward-thinking, interdisciplinary approaches while keeping society at the heart of meaningful solutions.
Project Spotlight: Plastics Made from Seashells
With the help of a Wrigley Institute Faculty Innovation Award, Eunji Chung is developing a plastic made with calcium carbonate from ground seashells.
Inspired by Chung’s research into medical devices, the new substance is both biodegradable and biocompatible, meaning that it is not toxic to humans or animals if ingested.
“Even in our lab, everything is single-use plastic because everything has to be sterile. Nothing can be contaminated. It all just started to feel very overwhelming for me personally, and I had to find a solution.”
Current Research Projects
Clean Streets, Clean Seas
This collaboration with the City of Santa Barbara seeks ways to intercept microplastics on city streets, before they pollute local watersheds.
PIs: Amalia Almada and Jill Murray
Supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Research Launchpad: Social Transformation
More About this Research
Consumer Attitudes Toward Trash-Derived Products
This project educates consumers and studies their attitudes about buying products made from ocean plastics.
PIs: Joe Árvai and Karla Heidelberg
Supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Research Launchpad: Social Transformation
More About this Research
Marine Debris Prevention
This project studies and seeks to improve participation in activities that reduce the amount of plastic litter in our oceans and on beaches.
PIs: Amalia Almada and Theresa Sinicrope Talley
Supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Research Launchpad: Social Transformation
More About this Research
Next-Generation, Biodegradable Plastics Inspired by Medical Devices
This project is developing a new type of biodegradable, biocompatible plastic made from citric acid and calcium carbonate.
PI: Eunji Chung, Dr. Karl Jacob Jr. and Karl Jacob III Early Career Chair and associate professor of biomedical engineering and chemical engineering and materials science
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Funded by the Seaver Institute
Research Launchpad: Applied Environmental Solutions
More About This Research
Story: Seashells could hold a key to sustainable plastics >>
Upcycling Ocean Plastics Into Sustainable Detergents and Dyes
This project uses plastic trash from the ocean to produce sustainable laundry detergents and clothing dyes.
PIs: Richard W. Roberts, Clay C.C. Wang, and Travis J. Williams
Supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Research Launchpad: Applied Environmental Solutions
More About this Research
Meet the Researchers
Amalia Almada
Research Associate, USC Sea Grant
Amalia Almada is a social scientist who develops and leads evidence-based outreach on water quality, sustainable aquaculture, and ecosystem health to managers, planners, and community members in Southern California.
Her work with the Future of Plastics Initiative focuses on solutions for cleaning microplastics from city environments, and on strategies for preventing plastic pollution of watersheds and coastal ocean ecosystems.
Joe Árvai
Dana and David Dornsife Chair in Psychology; Professor of Biological Sciences and Environmental Studies; Director, USC Wrigley Institute
Joe Árvai is a behavioral scientist who conducts research on how to improve decision-making about sustainability and the environment.
His Future of Plastics research focuses on public education about products derived from plastic trash, as well as effective ways to encourage consumers to adopt these products.
Barbara Behre
Postdoctoral Research Associate
PI: Joe Árvai (Psychology and Environmental Studies)
Barbara Behre is a social scientist who studies the impact of communication on people’s attitudes, behaviors, emotions, and perceptions around sustainable consumption.
Her research with the Wrigley Institute focuses on how framing and information can influence consumer evaluation and adoption of products derived from recovered ocean plastics, such as clothing made with recycled ocean plastic fibers.
Eunji Chung
Dr. Karl Jacob Jr. and Karl Jacob III Early Career Chair and Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Eunji Chung is a biomedical and chemical engineer who develops medical diagnostic tools, therapies, and devices that are targeted to specific conditions and that closely mimic tissues in the human body.
Through the Future of Plastics Initiative, she’s drawing on her medical-device research to develop a new type of biodegradable, biocompatible plastic made from citric acid and calcium carbonate.
Karla Heidelberg
Director, USC Sea Grant; Professor of the Practice of Biological Sciences and Environmental Studies
Karla Heidelberg is a microbiologist whose research focuses on marine microbes and zooplankton. She also develops and leads evidence-based outreach on the urbanized Southern California coastline to policymakers, public officials, and community stakeholders.
Under the Future of Plastics Initiative, she is leading outreach programs to educate the public about consumer products derived from recovered ocean plastics.
Richard Roberts
Professor of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Biomedical Engineering, and Molecular and Computational Biology
Rich Roberts is a chemist and biologist whose research focuses on protein synthesis, new drug development, and biological probes.
Through the Future of Plastics Initiative, he is collaborating with other USC faculty to develop a new process for converting ocean plastics into sustainable fashion dyes and laundry detergents.
Clay C. C. Wang
Chair and Professor of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Clay Wang is a chemist whose research focuses on how bacteria and fungi can be used to make natural products, such as the building blocks for medications.
His Future of Plastics work involves collaborating with other USC faculty to develop a new process for converting ocean plastics into sustainable fashion dyes and laundry detergents.
Travis J. Williams
Professor of Chemistry
Travis Williams is an organic chemist whose research focuses on using chemical catalysts to create more sustainable fuels and to upcycle waste materials, such as plastics, into viable consumer products.
His research with the Future of Plastics Initiative involves collaborating with other USC faculty to develop a new process for converting ocean plastics into sustainable fashion dyes and laundry detergents.
