The target audience for the short courses is those in plastics recycling and manufacturing, as well as early-career ocean professionals. | Wonderful Nature/Shutterstock

Hawaii Pacific University is offering plastics- and recycling-related short courses over the summer that are aimed at plastics professionals. 

Josh Forakis, a post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Marine Debris Research at Hawaii Pacific University and former high school biology teacher with experience in project-based learning, is part of the team developing the classes. The target audience is those in plastics recycling and manufacturing, as well as early-career ocean professionals.

“We want to connect other professionals with each other and to us so we can all collaborate on solutions for creating a circular economy of polymers,” Forakis said. 

The three classes are centered on microplastic quantification, identifying polymers and additives in plastics and recycling marine debris. 

The microplastics class, which runs June 2-5, will focus on how microplastics are measured, as well as what can be learned from their study and how to standardize the field. 

The second course on forensically analyzing marine debris will center around larger plastics as well as microplastics and the different techniques used to determine what kinds of resins and additives are in plastics found on beaches. It runs June 23-26.

The third course, from July 21-24, will highlight how the Center for Marine Debris Research is recycling marine debris. The team opened a plastic recycling research facility in Oahu this past year and is currently aggregating marine debris that various organizations across the islands collect. The class will cover how the center sorts the material between what is fit for recycling and what will go to a waste-to-energy facility. 

Registration opened in late January, and interested people can sign up for email updates. Forakis said he anticipates the courses will have waitlists and noted the courses will also be offered next year. Tuition is $1,950, and a limited number of scholarships will be available and prioritized for nonprofits, academic institutions and early-career professionals.

The course development was supported by the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Training for Improving Plastics Circularity grant program, which helps universities create programs that train people to “discover and develop solutions to problems presented by our current approaches to the production and consumption of plastics.” 

The Center for Marine Debris Research itself is a joint initiative between NIST and Hawaii Pacific University, Forakis said. In addition to the short courses for professionals, the center is also working to create a minor at HPU centered on the same topics. 

“We hope it’s a time where knowledge sharing can happen,” he said. “We’re not claiming to know everything.” 

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