Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Research Council ARD Dr Richard Johnson has officially opened the ARC Training Centre for Bioplastics and Biocomposites, the government announced on Tuesday.
The ARC Training Centre, led by the University of Queensland, strives to offer cutting-edge research with a comprehensive focus on technological, social, and policy solutions.
The research team at the ARC Training Centre will be conducting research across four interconnected themes — bioresource transformation, bioplastic manufacture, bioplastic applications, and change and sustainability — through a highly collaborative process of co-design, co-production, and co-delivery of knowledge and technology.
According to Dr Johnson, the ARC Training Centre is critical to boosting the Australian industry’s capacities to service rapidly developing national and worldwide markets for bio-derived and biodegradable goods.
“The ARC Training Centre for Bioplastics and Biocomposites will capitalise on Australia’s substantial bioresources to develop bioderived and biodegradable plastics and composites, such as high-performing think barrier films that are completely biodegradable, supporting two Industrial Transformation Priorities – Advanced Manufacturing, and Food and Agribusiness,” Dr Johnson explained.
The ARC Training Centre expects to recruit 19 PhD students, 19 researchers, and 4 research fellows to train a cohort of industry-ready research professionals to support Australia’s transition to a globally prominent bioplastic and biocomposites sector.
Under the ARC Industrial Transformation Research Program, the ARC will invest $4.9 million over five years.
For more information about the ARC Training Centre for Bioplastics and Biocomposites, please visit their website.
