Sustainable Polymers Tech Hub

Lead Agency: Greater Akron Chamber   

State Served: Ohio 

Applicant-Defined Region: Akron MSA 

Core Technology Area: sustainable polymers 

Contact: Brian Anderson (banderson@greaterakronchamber.org) 

Media Contact: Halee Gerenday (hgerenday@greaterakronchamber.org)

Organizational Link: https://greaterakronchamber.org/economic-development/polymer-industry-cluster/

The Sustainable Polymers Tech Hub, led by the Greater Akron Chamber, aims to tackle the severe climate and environmental impacts resulting from the use of fossil fuel-derived polymers (rubbers and plastics) through accelerating sustainable polymer manufacturing and commercialization in the United States. While polymers have long played an important role in American innovation, their conventional production has resulted in environmental challenges like greenhouse gas emissions and plastic pollution. This Tech Hub will pair the largest concentration of plastics and rubber manufacturing plants, machines, and materials in North America with regional R&D partnerships to establish global leadership in emissions-advantaged plastic and rubber technology. This Hub will be complemented by EDA’s Good Jobs Challenge investment in Ohio that supports workforce training in Ohio in machining, robotics, and other industrial automation specialties.

The Sustainable Polymers Tech Hub seeks to advance global decarbonization through innovation and equitable economic growth by bringing new polymer technologies to market that reduce fossil fuel consumption. 

In July 2024, EDA recommended this Tech Hub receive grant funding of approximately $51 million to implement seven projects, including:

Building new sustainability and polymer lifecycle management workforce development programming; 
Scaling up production of bio-based butadiene in an effort to reduce greenhouse gases and impact synthetic rubber supply chains on a global scale; 
Increasing pilot scale testing and validation of advanced carbon nanotube reinforced products to address critical U.S. supply chain vulnerabilities; 
Scaling up a liquid phase mixing process to achieve better composite uniformity for emerging materials; 
Developing a more environmentally safe anti-degradant to produce tires, rubber products, and plastics; and
Commercializing the recycling of end-of-life tires by scaling up processes to recover and re-use functional polymers from discarded scrap tire waste products.

To ensure that the impacts of the Tech Hub projects benefit the entire region, the consortium is committed to facilitating active community engagement and ensuring that equity-focused strategies are embedded and coordinated across the enterprise. 

Strategy Development Grant Amount: $399,672 

Designee Narrative (PDF) (submitted by the designee in its Phase 2 application package)

Press Releases

Additional Designations Earned in Region