Industry Innovation: Circular Economy

Goals

Build a bio-plastic bottling plant AND a Virtual Twin. The plant will be built in The Bahamas in 2026/27. The team will design a 3-line bottling plant, select construction materials and efficient building layouts, handle supply chain systems & logistics, do Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and create an Engineering/ Transaction Platform and it’s technical backbone.

Issues Involved or Addressed

The unsustainable exploitation of natural resources and the impacts of climate change remain critical global challenges. In the case of The Bahamas, we also find historical reliance on heavily taxed imports to meet consumption and industrial needs with significant plastic pollution and eutrophication due to high tourist activity. Addressing these issues through sustainable initiatives and engineering solutions is essential.
This transdisciplinary VIP is centered around advancing Sustainable Industry Innovation to foster a more Circular Economy on the Andros Islands in the Bahamas. We aim to facilitate transformative changes across the domains of Design, Engineering, Sourcing, Manufacturing, and Operations to establish a circular economy that leverages the abundant local resources sustainably, while also creating economic opportunities.
The current focus is the design of a bio-plastic bottle production facility, accompanied by the development of its virtual twin in addition to research on viable bio-based biodegradable plastics. The project will explore domain-specific innovations, with primary emphasis on establishing a bio-plastic bottling plant and its accompanying Virtual Twin.All thes e efforts will be aligned with sustainable and economically viable business development strategies to ensure long-term sustainability.
Materials Innovation:

Research & Testing of bio-based polymer materials for liquid packaging.
Study & Development of algae-based materials.

Design Innovation:

Design-Build-Thinking Framework
Rapid Prototyping
1:1 field test | community engagement in The Bahamas

Sustainable Product Design (Water Bottles, Packaging)

Material Innovation / Sciences
Industrial Design

Virtual Twin: Design Simulation | Operation | Optimization = Virtual Twin

Modelling & Testing System of Systems
Design & Simulation of Production facility
Architectural, Civil Engineering Simulations & Creation of Virtual Twin
Modelling & Testing System of Systems of bottling plant

Civil, Arch, Mechanical, Electrical Engineering, CES
Environmental Sciences | Engineering

Life Cycle Assessments Analytic Reports
Supply-Chain Networks Analysis
Analytic Reports

Business Development.

Field Studies

Community Engagement | Policy

Collaborating with Government and Non-Profit Organizations.

Partners/Sponsors

Cross-Disciplinary Team of Mentors on the GA Tech CampusGovernment of The Bahamas Non-Profit Organizations supporting the Stewardship of Natural Resources for the Benefit of local CommunitiesUNESCO