Research builds on insights from other projects such as the NSF-funded Center for Plastic, Paper and Hybrid Packaging End-of-Life Solutions.
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.
The inability to recycle many of the plastics currently used is perhaps the largest challenge facing the packaging industry. The goal is to develop materials that break down in composting environments without leaving behind persistent plastic particles. Rabnawaz said the project could potentially help enable the creation of a $40 billion annual compostable packaging market.
“Multilayer plastics serve an important role in protecting moisture-sensitive food, medicine and other products, but they also contribute to the accumulation of plastic pollution and microplastics in food, water and soil,” said Rabnawaz, whose work is funded in part by MSU AgBioResearch. “It’s a priority area for NSF, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and many others that recognize the negative effects of microplastics. This work has a multitude of implications across a range of fields, from agriculture to protecting the environment and human health.”
Rabnawaz, who began at MSU in 2016, has established an internationally acclaimed research program. His APEX Lab (AI for Paper & Plastic Engineering and Manufacturing Systems Integration) is aimed at furthering manufacturability, scalability and industry adoption of renewable and biodegradable packaging solutions through an integrated AI and experimental validation approach.
A globally respected leader in the field, Rabnawaz has published more than 120 peer-reviewed articles and holds more than 75 U.S. and international patents. These accomplishments are made possible by roughly $11 million in funding support over the last decade from sources such as NSF, EPA, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The new funding is built on insights from previous awards, including a 2025 NSF grant to establish the Center for Plastic, Paper and Hybrid Packaging End-of-Life Solutions (C3PS) directed by Rabnawaz — a partnership among scientists from lead institutions MSU and Western Michigan University, as well as six additional universities.
C3PS is the first NSF-funded center that unites academia and industry to develop sustainable packaging materials, an effort meant to foster innovative research collaborations and strengthen U.S. leadership in packaging technology. Over the past 16 months, C3PS has independently funded 10 grants totaling $800,000.