Not all materials can be recycled, and terms like “bio-based” and “biodegradable” are often misunderstood. While bio-based materials are derived from natural sources, many cannot be processed in standard recycling systems. This makes consumer education crucial for proper waste sorting and understanding where different products can be recycled. James Sternberg observes the impact of waste on ecosystems, including its effects on communities, farmland and water resources and explores how consumer habits — such as reducing overconsumption and opting for biodegradable packaging — can help minimize waste and its environmental footprint. He can provide insights into the science of packaging, including why plastic is never just packaging and how developing technologies and renewable materials are being tested and used in packaging applications.
Bio
As assistant professor of sustainable packaging, James Sternberg focuses on innovating new materials for packaging applications and learning new ways to increase the efficiency of organic composting or chemical recycling of packaging waste by measuring the rate of compostability of new and existing packaging materials. His research includes using renewable materials for polymers, foams, films and coatings for packaging applications; how chemical recycling of one-time-use containers and upcycling of recycled materials can lead to higher value materials; and how agricultural by-products can be transformed to activated carbon for energy applications and new catalyst design.
He joined the Clemson Composites Center as a senior scientist after postdoctoral research work at the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research, where he and collaborators used lignin, a wood-processing waste product, to develop a new way of making polyurethane foam without toxic chemicals.
Sternberg’s background is in chemistry and material science having completed his Ph.D. on the study of biobased polymers, foams, chemical recycling and lifecycle assessment. Before Clemson, Sternberg worked for the private sector in substrate and chemical process evaluation and testing. He began his career in academia teaching honors, AP and organic chemistry classes at the high school level, where he also served as Automotive Club Moderator.
With collaborators, Sternberg published several articles on lignin-based non-isocyanate polyurethane foam, lignin-derived thermoplastics and chemical recycling techniques. In 2023, he won the Bioenvironmental Polymer Society Outstanding Young Scientist Award and Rising Star departmental award. He is an in-demand presenter and is a member of the American Chemical Society.
Plastic is never just packaging. One-time use containers can last hundreds of years, and whatever “breaks down” gets into our resources and even into our bodies.
