MSU Scientist Receives $540K Grant from NSF to Advance Biodegradable Packaging

Packaging materials protect food, pharmaceuticals and consumer goods from contamination, but what happens to them once they’ve served that purpose? Many cannot be recycled — especially plastics — and contribute substantially to the roughly 350 million tons of global plastic waste generated annually. A new two-year project supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) led by a world-renowned Michigan State University scientist focuses on the development of innovative thermoplastic packaging that is cost-efficient, high-performing, biodegradable and microplastic-free. Muhammad Rabnawaz, an MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Faculty Laureate and professor in the top-ranked School of Packaging, is using the $540,000 grant to explore these materials through experiments and artificial intelligence-driven machine learning techniques.

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