TURNING WASTE
INTO WEALTH
Built in the Great Lakes, Made for the World
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a Regional Innovation Engine to the Great Lakes Water Innovation Engine. Welcome to Great Lakes ReNEW. Our mission: To invent new ways to extract valuable minerals and toxic forever chemicals from our wastewater. We are doing this for the people and communities in our region most harmed by economic and environmental injustice. Because, in a world of increasing water and resource scarcity, “waste” has no place.
Great Lakes ReNEW is anchored by Current, a Chicago-based water innovation hub.
Our Leadership
Alaina Harkness
CEO, Great Lakes ReNEW and PI of the Great Lakes Water Innovation Engine
Executive Director, Current
Junhong Chen
Co-PI, Great Lakes Water Innovation Engine
Crown Family Professor of Molecular Engineering at Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago
Lead Water Strategist at Argonne National Laboratory
Partners Sourced from Six Great Lakes States
Our Goals for the Region’s Inclusive Blue Economy
The Great Lakes ReNEW engine has three components
Use-Inspired R&D
Selectively separate valuable minerals, such as lithium, and dangerous chemicals, such as PFAS from wastewater
Workforce Development
Build up our region’s inclusive “blue economy” by training people for jobs and exposing youth to the industry
Translating Innovations to Practice
Launching and investing in water tech startups and building a centralized testbed for their products
Our 2-year Engine Goals
• Make progress toward figuring out how to selectively separate nickel, cobalt, lithium, nitrogen and PFAS from our wastewater
• Knit together the growing and complementary capabilities of the three leading water hubs across the region: Chicago, Milwaukee, and Cleveland
• Launch and invest in dozens of water tech companies
• Train 500 people for jobs in water
• Engage 1,000 youth across the region in STEM programs
• Start work on a water technology testbed in Chicago
• Have more than doubled NSF’s initial $15 million investment and have a clear line of sight to up to $160 million of funding
Water Risks are
Making Headlines
Great Lakes Water Innovation is awarded up to $160 million U.S. National Science Foundation grant
Current, the Chicago-based water innovation hub, is leading Great Lakes ReNEW, the multistate partnership to boost Great Lakes leadership on resource recovery and the circular economy
Press Release
‘Forever Chemicals’ Are Everywhere. What Are They Doing to Us?
PFAS lurk in so much of what we eat, drink and use. Scientists are only beginning to understand how they’re impacting our health — and what to do about them.
New York Times
Chicago’s $1 Billion Water Deal Shows Great Lakes Wealth
As American states such as California grapple with harsher and more frequent droughts, the US Midwest is touting its ample water supplies to spur economic growth.
Bloomberg