The REMADE Institute is pleased to announce it has been awarded $380,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop Circular Economy workforce training for the nation’s rapidly growing electronics scrap and remanufacturing industries. REMADE℠ will lead the workforce project and partner on it with the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), the Recycled Materials Association (ReMA), and the Remanufacturing Industries Council (RIC).
The goal of the project is to develop bilingual, English and Spanish, online workforce training for roles that do not require four-year degrees in the e-scrap and remanufacturing industries. Both of these industries have significant needs for employees who can fill these types of roles, which include shop-floor workers as well as repair, test and diagnostic technicians. The specific training developed as part of this project would teach not only entry-level shop-floor workers, but would also provide progressive training to allow workers to move up the ladder into repair, test and diagnostic technician jobs.
“Upskilling the nation’s workforce is critical for ensuring the nation’s successful transition to a Circular Economy,” said REMADE CEO Nabil Nasr. “Improved training in these industries will reduce the onboarding costs for entry-level employees and facilitate upskilling. It will also address significant barriers for these businesses as they seek to accelerate circularity in the consumer electronics industry.”