Each year, over 60,000 tons of plastic travel down the Amazon River to the Atlantic Ocean. This figure does not account for what ends up on the riverbanks, nor the microplastics consumed by the region’s vast and varied wildlife.

While it’s simple to vilify plastic, it has played a vital role in shaping the society we inhabit today. The objective of laboratories in chemical engineering and materials science worldwide, including Bradley Olsen’s research group, is to develop materials that possess the advantages of plastics while mitigating the negative impacts of conventional production techniques.

Olsen, a Fulbright Amazonia scholar and the faculty lead of MIT-Brazil, collaborates with communities to create alternative plastic solutions sourced from local materials in their environments.

“The term we use for this is co-design,” explains Olsen. “Rather than engineers solely designing something on their own, they collaborate and jointly create the solution with the stakeholders.”

In this instance, the stakeholders included small enterprises around Manaus in the Brazilian state of Amazonas who were eager to explore the viability of bioplastics and other alternative packaging methods.

“Plastics are fundamental to contemporary life; they serve essential purposes and exhibit wonderfully intricate chemistry that we wish to continue utilizing. However, it must be done in a way that is more compatible with the earth,” states Desirée Plata, MIT associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.

This is why Plata partnered with Olsen to establish the course 1.096/10.496 (Design of Sustainable Polymer Systems) in 2021. Now offered as a Global Classroom initiative under the umbrella of MISTI since 2023, the course allows MIT students to visit Manaus during the three-week Independent Activities Period (IAP).

“In my role managing the Global Teaching Labs in Brazil since 2016, MIT students work closely with Brazilian undergraduates,” says Rosabelli Coelho-Keyssar, managing director of MIT-Brazil and MIT-Amazonia, who also oversees the Global Teaching Labs program in Brazil. “This peer-learning model was integrated into the Global Classroom in Manaus, ensuring that MIT and Brazilian students collaborated throughout the course.”

The course leadership collaborated with climate scientist and MIT alumnus Carlos Nobre PhD ’83, who facilitated connections with faculty at the Universidade Estadual de Amazonas (UAE), the state university of Amazonas. Subsequently, the group identified businesses in the Amazonas region that would be interested in partnering with the students.

“In the inaugural year, we worked with Comunidade Julião, a community of individuals residing by the Tarumã Mirim River west of Manaus,” remarks Olsen. “This year, our focus shifted to Comunidade Para Maravilha, a community located in the dry land forest to the east of Manaus.”

A customized approach

Plastic, by its very nature, consists of various small carbon-based molecules, known as monomers, which are linked by strong bonds to form larger structures called polymers. Different combinations of monomers and polymers yield various types of plastics — from garbage bags to pool floats to automotive dashboards. Traditionally, plastics are manufactured from petroleum byproducts that are readily linkable, stable, and abundant.

Nonetheless, alternatives exist to minimize the reliance on petroleum-based plastics. Packaging can be manufactured from materials found within the local ecosystem, which was the emphasis of the 2024 class. Alternatively, carbon-based monomers can be harvested from high-starch plant materials using various techniques, targeting the objective of the 2025 group. However, plants that thrive in one area may not flourish in another. Moreover, setting up bioplastic production facilities can be complex if the necessary resources aren’t readily accessible.

“We can devise a multitude of new sustainable chemical procedures and utilize cutting-edge, innovative catalysts. However, if these cannot be effectively applied within an environment, they fail to meet many of the overarching goals,” states Brian Carrick, a PhD candidate in the Olsen lab and a teaching assistant for the 2025 course offering.

Thus, identifying local resources and customizing the process is essential. The 2025 MIT cohort collaborated with students from various parts of the Amazonas state to investigate local flora, analyze its starch content in the laboratory, and establish a novel plastic manufacturing process — all within the three weeks of IAP.

“It’s easy in projects like this to become deeply entrenched in the MIT bubble, focusing solely on what seems exciting, which might not always be beneficial or constructive for people actually living in that environment,” expresses Claire Underwood, a junior majoring in chemical-biological engineering who participated in the class. “This aspect of the project really attracted me — the chance to work with individuals in Brazil.”

The 31 students explored a conservation area of the Amazon rainforest on Day One. Through the duration of IAP, they also seized opportunities to visit the Amazon River, where the potential impact of their efforts became increasingly evident as they observed plastic waste accumulating on its banks.

“That was undoubtedly a remarkable element of the class, being able to physically see what we were striving to protect and understand the purpose behind it,” remarks Underwood.

The team interacted with stakeholders, such as farmers who could provide feedstock and plastic manufacturers who could implement innovative techniques. Following these discussions, they moved to the classroom, where extensive academic ground was covered through a crash course on sustainable design processes, the intricacies of plastic production, and the Brazilian cultural context regarding the community impact of developing such an industry. For the final project, they divided into teams to create preliminary process and plant designs using a simplified model of these systems.

Bridging across divisions

Working in a foreign country highlighted the interconnectedness of policy, culture, and technical solutions.

“I lack knowledge in economics, particularly Brazilian economics and politics,” admits Underwood. However, a Brazilian student in her group was a management and finance major. “He was incredibly helpful when we were sourcing materials and accounting for inflation — understanding what was practical, not just academically feasible.”

Before concluding IAP, each team showcased their proposals to a panel consisting of company representatives and Brazilian MIT alumni who selected first, second, and third-place winners. While further research is essential before confidently implementing the ideas, the experience seemed to spark genuine interest in establishing a local bioplastics production facility.

Grasping sustainable design principles and how to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration is a crucial skill to acquire. Even if these students do not ultimately work on bioplastics in the heart of the Amazon, the ability to collaborate with individuals from diverse perspectives — be it in a different discipline or culture — holds value in nearly every field.

“The interchange of knowledge across varied fields and cultures is vital for creating innovative and sustainable solutions to global issues such as climate change, waste management, and the development of environmentally-friendly materials,” states Taisa Sampaio, a PhD candidate in materials chemistry at UEA and a co-instructor for the course. “Initiatives like this are essential in training professionals who are more cognizant and better prepared to tackle future challenges.”

Currently, Olsen and Plata are concentrating on leveraging the extensive network and resources they have established around Manaus, with aspirations of developing similar networks elsewhere to broaden this sustainable design quest in different regions of the globe.

“Many sustainability solutions are hyperlocal,” remarks Plata. “Recognizing that not all locations are identical is incredibly significant and vital when addressing sustainability challenges. This awareness is likely where we’ve made mistakes with the one-size-fits-all approach or the search for a silver-bullet solution that we have pursued for decades.”

Plans for the 2026 trip are still being formulated but, as Olsen notes, “we aspire for this to be an opportunity we can persist in offering well into the future, given how beneficial it has been for both our students and our Brazilian collaborators.”