ORLANDO, Fla.—A coalition of Northeast Ohio rubber and plastics companies, governments and universities is hoping to secure at least $40 million in federal funding to become a national technology hub for sustainable polymers.
The group, the Polymer Industry Cluster in Akron, Ohio, secured $400,000 in seed money from Washington last year as part of a program to identify and support potential technology hubs around the country.
At a May 7 event at NPE2024 in Orlando, they said they're competing for at least $40 million in additional federal funding to take their plans to the next step.
Cluster members, including materials supplier Avient Corp., said the group hopes to strengthen ties among the 500 plastics and rubber firms within an hour drive of Akron and help the industry transition to more sustainable plastics manufacturing.
One strength, they said, is the size of the industry now in the region. Northeast Ohio is the densest grouping of plastic, polymer and rubber manufacturing in North and South America, said Brian Anderson, vice president of the polymer industry cluster at the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce.
Panelists drew parallels to the 1940s, when they said federal support and direction during World War II built up the synthetic rubber industry in Akron, after the war exposed dependence on natural rubber supplies from Asia.
They see a similar chance to build up the sustainable polymers industry, with federal direction.