Sustainable Polymers Tech Hub

Lead Agency: Greater Akron Chamber    

State Served: Ohio  

Applicant-Defined Region: Akron MSA  

Core Technology Area: sustainable polymers  

Contact: Steve Millard ([email protected])  

Media Contact: Halee Gerenday ([email protected])

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 environmental impacts resulting from the use of fossil fuel-derived polymers (rubbers and plastics) through accelerating innovative polymer manufacturing and commercialization in the United States. 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 materials development and reshore supply chains by bringing new polymer technologies to market.  

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

• Building new polymer lifecycle management workforce development programming; 
• Scaling up production of bio-based butadiene in an effort to reshore 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 safer 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 strategies are embedded and coordinated across the enterprise.  

Strategy Development Grant Amount: $399,672

Press Releases

• Biden-Harris Administration’s Tech Hubs Program Awards Approximately $51 Million to the Sustainable Polymers Tech Hub in Ohio to Strengthen the Region’s Capacity as a Global Leader in Advanced Manufacturing
• Biden-Harris Administration Designates Tech Hub in Ohio to Support Sustainable Polymers Technology

Additional Designations Earned in Region