Joint FY20 Bioenergy and Advanced Manufacturing FOA BOTTLE: Bio-Optimized Technologies to keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment | DE FOA 0002245

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002245

The Joint FY20 Bioenergy and Advanced Manufacturing FOA known as BOTTLE (Bio-Optimized Technologies to Keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment), Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0002245, is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) competitive funding opportunity created to push forward practical, high-impact research and development that reduces plastic waste and keeps thermoplastics out of landfills and the natural environment. It sits under DOE's broader Plastics Innovation Challenge announced in November 2019, which aims to speed up innovation in energy-efficient plastics recycling and redesign plastics so they can be recovered and reused more effectively rather than discarded. The core idea is to improve the entire lifecycle of plastics: create materials that are easier to recycle or safely biodegrade, and develop better processes to break down existing plastic waste into valuable chemical ingredients that can be turned back into products.

This FOA is jointly supported by two DOE offices with complementary missions. The Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) focuses on converting domestic biomass and waste resources into fuels, products, and power, supporting renewable energy and chemical production. The Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) focuses on improving energy productivity across U.S. manufacturing, making better use of domestic energy resources, and enabling manufacturing of clean energy products. By pairing BETO and AMO, the FOA signals that DOE is looking not only for scientific breakthroughs, but also for approaches that can realistically scale into manufacturing and industrial practice while lowering energy use and improving overall efficiency.

Funding is provided through cooperative agreements, meaning awardees should expect active DOE involvement during the project, with collaboration and oversight that is typically stronger than in a standard grant. The opportunity was administered by the Department of Energy, Golden Field Office, and was posted March 16, 2020, with an original closing date of June 18, 2020. The award ceiling listed is $2,500,000 per award, and DOE expected to make around 10 awards. The program is categorized under the Energy funding activity category, with CFDA numbers 81.086 and 81.087.

The FOA is organized around three main topic areas. Topic Area 1, Highly Recyclable or Biodegradable Plastics, targets the invention or development of new plastic materials that match or exceed the performance of comparable conventional plastics while also being much easier to manage at end-of-life. The emphasis is on plastics that can be recycled cost-effectively or that can fully biodegrade under real-world conditions, including in the environment or within composting facilities, rather than fragmenting into persistent microplastics. In practical terms, projects in this area would likely involve polymer design, additives, compatibilizers, or processing approaches that preserve strength and durability during use but enable clean, efficient recovery or complete breakdown afterward.

Topic Area 2, Novel Methods for Deconstructing and Upcycling Existing Plastics, focuses on improving recycling itself, especially technologies that can convert mixed or hard-to-recycle plastics into useful chemical intermediates. DOE highlights energy-efficient recycling approaches spanning mechanical, chemical, and biological routes. The goal is not just to downcycle plastics into lower-value materials, but to deconstruct plastic waste streams into building blocks that can then be upgraded into higher-value products. This reflects a push toward upcycling and circular manufacturing, where waste plastics become feedstocks for new chemicals, materials, or products with strong market value, potentially improving the economics that often limit recycling adoption.

Topic Area 3, BOTTLE Consortium Collaborations to Tackle Challenges in Plastic Waste, is aimed at forming or strengthening collaborations with the existing BOTTLE Laboratory Consortium. The point of this topic is to align funded projects with the Consortium's longer-term technical roadmap and to accelerate progress toward the Plastics Innovation Challenge goals through coordinated work across labs, universities, and industry partners. This topic is essentially about building connective tissue between individual R and D efforts and a broader national effort to standardize methods, share insights, and drive faster translation of research into usable technologies.

Eligibility is broad and includes state, county, and local governments; special districts; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (including those other than small businesses); small businesses; and even individuals. This wide eligibility suggests DOE wanted to attract a mix of academic, national lab, startup, and industrial applicants, as well as potential public-sector partners who might support deployment and adoption.

Applications were submitted through DOE's EERE eXCHANGE portal (https://eere-exchange.energy.gov), which enforces strict electronic deadlines for both concept papers and full applications. The system disables submission buttons at the deadline to apply the same rule to all applicants. The FOA also lays out what to do if technical problems occur: applicants are expected to contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov). If issues beyond the applicant's control cause a late submission, DOE indicates it will only accept a late application when the applicant encountered technical difficulties, contacted the helpdesk, and successfully submitted through eXCHANGE within 24 hours after the posted deadline, with the system administrators able to help finalize submission with the applicant's concurrence.

Overall, this funding opportunity is best understood as DOE's targeted investment in making plastics more circular and less wasteful by combining next-generation polymer design, advanced deconstruction and upcycling processes, and coordinated collaboration through the BOTTLE Consortium. It is structured to produce technologies that are not just scientifically interesting, but also energy-efficient, manufacturable, and capable of shifting plastic waste from a disposal problem into a recoverable resource stream.

• The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Joint FY20 Bioenergy and Advanced Manufacturing FOA BOTTLE: Bio-Optimized Technologies to keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.086, 81.087.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 16, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 18, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Individuals, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses.

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