Our current economic model is linear; we take, make, and waste products. This take-make-waste model has led to serious environmental problems from using too many resources to creating too much waste, including vast amounts of plastic waste into our oceans. In contrast with the take-make-waste or linear model is the circular economy. The ideas behind the circular economy include keeping products in use, eliminating waste and pollution by design, and aiming to help nature. The circular economy is making progress in Europe and Asia, but progress in the United States is lagging. Through this project, we are hosting a workshop, aiming to create a much-needed research agenda for design for circular economy in the United States. We also are aiming to create a curriculum for design for circular economy.
The current linear consumption model of raw material extraction, production, use, and disposal dominates the global economy. Today, we clearly see that this linear model has led to serious unintended global consequences from resource depletion to global waste, spanning all industrial sectors, from plastics to the built environment. In contrast to linear models, circular economy aims to decouple economic growth from resource consumption by cycling products and materials back into production, either by returning materials to generate new products, or by releasing benign substances to the environment through degradation. To achieve – or even begin to achieve – a circular economy, a convergent research approach needs to be employed as a multitude of disciplines -- from chemistry, biology, engineering, business, economics, social sciences, and behavioral science need to work in concert for circularity. Our vision is to foster and catalyze circular economy design from molecules to the built environment. Through this proposed workshop, we aim to develop the much-needed research agenda for design for circular economy from molecules to the built environment. Ultimately from a societal perspective – nationally and internationally, we address the pressing challenges of spiraling global waste and resource consumption. We are also aiming to address NSF’s Growing Convergence Research, one of the 10 Big Ideas for Future NSF Investments, by integrating diverse disciplines through curated workshop activities. Our workshop includes a strong training sub-theme for our community to create a curriculum for design for circular economy.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
