NSF Convergence Accelerator Track E: Glass Recycling to Restore the Coast

人们依赖沿海资源获取食物、水和能源。然而，上世纪对这些自然资源的开采导致了污染和沿海土地的丧失。该项目旨在将回收的玻璃转化为原始形式，即沙子，以支持海岸恢复，保护和恢复。ReCoast团队由20多名科学家和工程师组成，他们进行广泛的区域经济，社会，文化和环境研究，为美国各地的玻璃回收和土地保护创造长期，可持续的解决方案。 为了定制这些解决方案以满足社区的需求，ReCoast团队与居民，政府组织，当地企业主，非营利组织和学生进行了访谈。 通过这些互动，ReCoast团队与Pointe Au Chien土著部落、Pontchartrain保护协会等组织建立了合作关系（通过科学研究，教育和宣传重点关注环境的可持续性和管理），下9区可持续参与和发展中心，手牵手（该公司为低收入居民建造经济适用房，并配备适当的水管理系统），以及许多其他公司。 在接下来的两年里，ReCoast团队将把他们在路易斯安那州东南部的工作中吸取的经验教训应用到其他环境中，包括佛罗里达和得克萨斯州的海岸和岛国。然而，世纪来对这些自然资源的开采导致了污染和海岸侵蚀。保护和恢复我们的海岸，同时继续支持沿海社区的经济，从来没有像现在这样紧迫。在玻璃回收创业公司Glass Half Full与化学工程，土木环境工程，河流海岸工程和生态进化生物学的大学研究人员之间的第一阶段合作伙伴关系中，该团队：（i）建立了回收玻璃砂产品的材料和生态安全性，（ii）在路易斯安那州东南部的多个示范点建立了社区合作伙伴关系，（iii）评估了增值产品的预防准备，以及（iv）通过与土著社区的联系扩大参与，跨学科的学生培训和学生服务学习项目。在第二阶段，该团队建议（i）开展计划的恢复项目，我们预计将吸引对玻璃回收和沿海恢复的投资，以维持路易斯安那州的蓝色经济网络超过项目的生命周期，（ii）使增值产品达到预防准备状态（TRL 6-7），（iii）进行技术经济，生命周期，和多标准决策分析，以支持我们提出的蓝色经济网络的经济和环境案例，（iv）将路易斯安那州沿海沼泽的经验教训扩展到其他生态系统，以及（v）扩大他们的参与范围，将新奥尔良下九区的居民包括在内，这是一个主要的非裔美国人社区，受到数十年的环境种族主义的影响，为公民科学提供机会，随着学校开始重新向校园游客开放，并加倍K-12外展工作。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

People rely on coastal resources for food, water, and energy. However, extraction of these natural resources over the last century has led to pollution and coastal land loss. This project aims to convert recycled glass back into its original form, sand, to support coastal restoration, preservation, and resiliency. The ReCoast Team consists of over twenty scientists and engineers conducting extensive regional economic, social, cultural, and environmental research to create long-term, sustainable solutions for glass recycling and land preservation throughout the United States. To tailor these solutions to meet the needs of the community, the ReCoast Team has conducted interviews with residents, government organizations, local business owners, non-profit organizations, and students. From these interactions, the ReCoast Team has formed partnerships with organizations like the Pointe Au Chien Indigenous Tribe, the Pontchartrain Conservancy (which focuses on environmental sustainability and stewardship through scientific research, education, and advocacy), the Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development, Home by Hand (which builds affordable housing with proper water management systems for low-income residents), and many others. Over the next two years, the ReCoast Team will adapt the lessons learned from their work in southeast Louisiana to other environments, including the Florida and Texas coasts and island nations.We rely on coastal resources for food, water, and energy. However, a century of extracting these natural resources has led to pollution and coastal erosion. Protecting and restoring our coasts while continuing to support the economies of coastal communities has never been more urgent. In the Phase I partnership between glass recycling startup company Glass Half Full and university researchers in chemical engineering, civil & environmental engineering, river & coastal engineering, and ecology & evolutionary biology, the team: (i) established the material and ecological safety of the recycled glass sand product, (ii) formed community partnerships for multiple demonstration sites in southeast Louisiana, (iii) evaluated value-added products for translation-readiness, and (iv) broadened participation through outreach to Indigenous communities, interdisciplinary student training, and student service-learning projects. In Phase II, the team proposes to (i) carry out planned restoration projects, which we expect to attract investment in glass recycling and coastal restoration to sustain a blue economy network in Louisiana beyond the life of the project, (ii) bring value-added products to translation-readiness (TRL 6-7), (iii) conduct techno-economic, lifecycle, and multi-criteria decision analyses to support the economic and environmental cases for our proposed blue economy network, (iv) extend lessons learned from Louisiana coastal marshes to other ecosystems, and (v) expand their broadening participation efforts to include residents of New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, a predominantly African American neighborhood subjected to decades of environmental racism, provide opportunities for citizen science, and redouble K-12 outreach efforts as schools begin re-opening to campus visitors.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.