PCA Donates $1.6M For UMaine Sustainable Packaging Initiative The University of Maine announced that the Packaging Corporation of America (PCA) has donated $1.6 million to establish the UMaine Sustainable Packaging Initia- tive. The UMaine Sustainable Packaging Initiative is a re- search-based public and private consortium that focuses on using forest-based materials to accelerate the transi- tion to renewable and recyclable packaging made from forest fiber. “As a UMaine graduate, I am happy to be part of PCA’s involvement in the UMaine Process Development Center. This investment will enable the PDC to expand research and development activities and industry support to include packaging grades. Sustainable packaging represents a huge potential for the paper industry; it is exciting to be a part of this change both as a PCA employee and a UMaine advocate,” said Barbara Hamilton, senior director of pro- cess control technology at PCA. PCA’s donation will support the university’s Pro- cess Development Center (PDC). The PDC is a unique, open-access research facility that offers research and de- velopment technical services and resources in traditional pulp and paper, as well as emerging process technologies and material science. Funds will provide infrastructure im- provements and new equipment to foster growth in be-
coming the leading R&D/pilot production lab for renew- able packaging in the US. “This gift is transformative for the PDC,” said center Di- rector Colleen Walker. “Not only will the PDC be better able to serve company and university researchers developing and commercializ- ing new forest-based solutions for packaging, but we are engaging our Black Bear students in this process to pro- vide hands-on research learning experiences.” PCA’s donation will also help leverage the $75 million matching challenge grant from the Harold Alfond Foun- dation to support the Maine College of Engineering and Computing, a signature initiative of UMS TRANSFORMS. The initiative is focused on attracting thousands of new engineering and computing students to the state and expanding educational opportunities in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and ad- vanced materials. The Maine College of Engineering and Computing is a statewide, integrated solution to providing the technical workforce and innovations critical to moving Maine’s economy forward and improving R&D for state- based industry. “We are grateful to PCA for this generous gift that will allow the continued support of research and innovation at the University of Maine,” said UMaine President Joan Fer- rini-Mundy. “This gift will position us as a world leader in sustainable packaging, as well as offer research learning opportunities to current and future students.”
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