The Oosterbeek Lab has received funding from the SCGC-FIRST scheme for a new project AIM-HIGH: AI-enabled Modification of HIGH-performance recycled polymer formulations.

AIM-HIGH aims to create a manufacturing and testing workflow that delivers recycled material with consistent, controllable properties from a variable polypropylene waste stream, and demonstrates its effectiveness for reliable impact protection devices.

PP is the second-most used polymer, comprising 16% of the plastics industry, but has one of the lowest recycling rates at just 3%. A key barrier is degradation of properties during recycling, causing unpredictable changes which make use in demanding applications impossible. Blending recycled PP with virgin PP or other additives allows tuning of material properties, however accurately predicting these in complex mixtures with degraded properties is challenging, requiring prohibitively large testing regimes for reliable characterisation.

AIM-HIGH seeks to leverage AI and Material Testing 2.0 for materials discovery and validation, to upcycle an underutilised waste stream that currently goes to landfill. These outcomes target green polymer production and waste disposal reduction, and aim to improve sustainability in even the most demanding applications. The approach is built around manufacturing, to ensure scalable and cost-effective solutions that can be adapted to industrial contexts.

The project will be led by Prof. Oosterbeek and Dr Aaron Graham of the Department of Engineering Science.

The SCGC Fund for Innovation and Research in Sustainability and Technology (SCGC-FIRST) is funded by SCG Chemicals Public Company Limited (SCGC), ASEAN’s leading innovation company in chemicals. This fund aims to support visionary and transformative research tackling some of the world’s most pressing challenges in sustainability, energy, materials and advanced technologies.

https://eng.ox.ac.uk/news/mpls-announces-scgc-first-2025-2026-awardees