Sustainable materials

Sustainable materials are those that can be produced in the necessary quantities for usage across our consumer and industrial economies without depleting non-renewable resources or upsetting the environment's and major natural resource systems' established steady-state balance. These materials come in a wide variety and can include highly recyclable materials like glass that can be processed an infinite number of times without the need for new mineral resources, bio-based polymers made from polysaccharides, and many more. This center's mission is to comprehend the underlying science of new sustainable material forms and, once promising opportunities are found, to engineer new materials that industry and commerce will require to lessen the negative environmental and sociological effects of conventional petroleum-intensive materials.