{"639794":{"#nid":"639794","#data":{"type":"news","title":"RBI Students Win Mars Wrigley Sustainability Packathon Contest","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELast month, two Renewable Bioproducts Institute (RBI) doctoral students won the 2020 Mars Wrigley Sustainability Packathon contest which shifted its finale event from the city of Chicago in Illinois to an online format that hosted seven finalist teams. Another team from Georgia Tech placed second in the contest.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENasreen Khan\u003C\/strong\u003E and \u003Cstrong\u003EManali Banerjee\u003C\/strong\u003E, both Georgia Tech doctoral students in materials science and engineering, and RBI paper science and engineering fellows, won first prize in this year\u0026rsquo;s event which had more than 50 national teams competing. Using the team name, \u0026ldquo;Talk Green to Me,\u0026rdquo; they presented to Mars Wrigley a detailed sustainability packaging idea and technology that eventually allows packaging to naturally convert to compost and re-enter the recycling stream. Because of the contest guidelines, specific details about their proposed closed-loop sustainability idea that makes the most of agricultural waste cannot be publicized.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Both of us are material scientists. We work in the same lab. So, we decided to approach this idea from a materials perspective and come up with more sustainable packaging from the materials standpoint,\u0026rdquo; said Banerjee. \u0026ldquo;We wanted to use more sustainable or degradable materials to come up with a new kind of packaging that they could implement. We specifically work with cellulose and natural products. We wanted to use natural products and natural materials, so that was our approach to it.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Initially, we came at this with the idea that we want a single layer, and we want to use less\u0026nbsp;of normal fossil fuels, or normal plastics. We then wanted to use all biodegradable materials, but specifically materials that are coming from agricultural waste that\u0026#39;s already going to landfill,\u0026rdquo; said Khan. \u0026ldquo;If we can use agricultural waste to make one single layer that can be easily compostable and easily manufactured, then that\u0026#39;s what we wanted to do. We looked at it from an overall viewpoint, such as, how is this product going to start from the beginning, from the farmers? And how does it end with the consumers and then loop back around in this cycle.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETheir team helped answer the overall question about how Mars Wrigley can help increase consumer rates of appropriate package disposal for candy, gum, and chocolate packaging.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The finalists are definitely the next generation of packaging,\u0026ldquo; said \u003Cstrong\u003EWilliam Singleton\u003C\/strong\u003E, global director of packaging innovation at Mars Wrigley.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EKhan and Banerjee are so passionate about their field of work as material scientists that they regular record and publish a podcast called \u0026ldquo;Talk Green to Me.\u0026rdquo; You can subscribe to their podcasts on Spotify, Apple, and SoundCloud.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnother Georgia Tech materials science engineering and MBA student team placed second in the Mars Wrigley packaging national contest. Team members were \u003Cstrong\u003EMonica Marks\u003C\/strong\u003E and \u003Cstrong\u003EEdward DiLoreto\u003C\/strong\u003E, both doctoral students in materials science and engineering, and \u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Brenller\u003C\/strong\u003E and \u003Cstrong\u003EAmanda Grupp\u003C\/strong\u003E, both MBA students in the Scheller College of Business.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe design developed by their team named \u0026ldquo;Buzz \u0026amp; Burdell\u0026#39;s\u0026rdquo; utilized waste cacao material along with other biopolymers to create a high quality, compostable candy wrapper. The team also developed a marketing plan to engage consumers and educate them on the positive impact of the new materials design.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Two Renewable Bioproducts Institute (RBI) doctoral students won the 2020 Mars Wrigley Sustainability Packathon contest "}],"uid":"27513","created_gmt":"2020-10-01 14:43:40","changed_gmt":"2020-10-01 15:35:33","author":"Walter Rich","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-10-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-10-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"639793":{"id":"639793","type":"image","title":"Nasreen Khan and Manali Banerjee","body":null,"created":"1601563329","gmt_created":"2020-10-01 14:42:09","changed":"1601563329","gmt_changed":"2020-10-01 14:42:09","alt":"Nasreen Khan and Manali Banerjee, both Georgia Tech doctoral students in materials science and engineering, and RBI paper science and engineering fellows.","file":{"fid":"243237","name":"screenshot_29.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/screenshot_29.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/screenshot_29.png","mime":"image\/png","size":644123,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/screenshot_29.png?itok=lrQwULwc"}}},"media_ids":["639793"],"groups":[{"id":"372221","name":"Renewable Bioproducts Institute (RBI)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39491","name":"Renewable Bioproducts"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWalter Rich\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["walter.rich@research.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}