Project Mentor: Tom Gartner, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
2027 Impact Fellows:
Project Description:
Brazil is one of the world’s largest generators of plastic waste, producing more than 11 million tonnes each year, yet only a small fraction of it is ever recycled. Much of this waste comes from single-use plastics, such as packaging, bags, bottles, and food containers, which are used for minutes but can persist in the environment for centuries. Most of it ends up in landfills, open dumps, rivers, and the ocean, causing growing environmental damage, health risks, and wasted potential.
PlasTech is transforming this challenge into an opportunity. The project began in the Philippines, where our team developed an innovative 3D printing filament made from recycled sachet plastics (small, single-use packets that are widely used there and rarely recycled) and researched how to upgrade local micro-recycling facilities to collect and process post-consumer plastic. Building on that work, PlasTech is now expanding to Brazil, and this is our first year exploring the Brazilian context. Our team will investigate a range of circular economy opportunities for Brazil’s plastic waste. We’ll consider how recycled filament could be adapted to local plastic streams, and we’ll also explore other upcycled products, improvements to collection and sorting systems, and new models for keeping plastic in use and out of the environment.
In Brazil, much of the country’s recycling depends on catadores (waste pickers) and the recycling cooperatives they’ve organized, alongside a national solid waste policy that supports reverse logistics and shared responsibility for packaging. This year, we’ll study how our technologies and community-based recycling model can be adapted to Brazil. We’ll also look at how partnerships with cooperatives and local organizations could create new income opportunities while helping address the country’s plastic pollution problem.
As part of this project, you’ll have the chance to work on cutting-edge research and social innovation across disciplines, such as plastic and polymer characterization, supply chain and circular economy design, community-based sustainability initiatives, plastic upcycling and materials innovation, business model development and implementation, and research and technical writing. As a first-year effort in a new country, the project also offers the opportunity to help shape PlasTech’s direction through stakeholder mapping, context research, and partnership development.
We welcome students from all majors who are passionate about environmental sustainability, waste management, and creative problem-solving. Whether your strengths lie in engineering, social sciences, business, design, communication, or Portuguese language and Latin American studies, your perspective can make a difference in building a more sustainable future.
