NSF Convergence Accelerator Track I: A Tale of Two Cities Optimizing Circularity from Molecules to the Built Environment

目前的原材料开采、生产、使用和处置的线性消耗模式已经导致了严重的后果，从资源枯竭到全球浪费，横跨从塑料到建筑环境的所有工业部门。取而代之的是，可以通过使用系统工具指导设计，通过改变材料的寿命终结和/或重复使用的设想来创建新的圆形模型。该项目将通过使用该团队的循环性评估协议(CAP)来开发相互关联的循环模型，以避免浪费和跨四个不同类别的材料重复使用：分子、塑料、有机材料和建筑环境，从而促进国家的健康、繁荣和福利。通过在地理位置不同的两个大都市地区(宾夕法尼亚州匹兹堡和佐治亚州亚特兰大)创建一条跨越多种材料和规模的循环之路，他们的知识和改进的实践可以转化为美国各地的其他地点，最终扩展到其他城市。这项工作跨越了污染、社会交叉问题、社区参与、金融系统以及教育和课程开发的界限。项目数据将使用开放接入、开放数据工具碎片追踪器在互联网上免费和公开提供，世界上近100个国家有600多万个其他数据点用于材料泄漏和材料管理。环状城市的数据将不仅在匹兹堡和亚特兰大之间进行比较，而且将与全球其他CAP城市进行比较，如菲律宾的马尼拉、印度尼西亚的三宝朗和越南的坎托。这个项目将深刻地加强和扩大该团队当地非政府组织、政府和行业合作伙伴的垃圾减少和管理计划。合作伙伴和利益攸关方会议将寻求改善系统性和交叉性问题的方法，包括污染负担、缺乏基础设施和获得服务的机会。与线性模型不同，循环经济将经济增长与资源消耗脱钩--例如，在不产生废物的情况下满足人们的需求。CE原则基于有效利用资源和消除产品生命周期中的浪费；真正的循环经济通过设计保持材料的持续使用。通过该团队先前开发的、经过验证的整体系统框架--循环性评估协议(CAP)--的过程，深度整合不同的学科，该项目可以应对目前阻碍循环经济增长的复杂挑战。这项工作将首次利用CAP框架在多个尺度上聚合循环：从分子(例如，功能特性和生态毒性)，到材料(例如，聚合物、电子产品、纸制品)，以及建筑环境(例如，超值设计和可逆建筑设计)。项目团队将与来自非政府组织、政府和行业的定位良好的合作者合作，汇聚并连接这些孤立的研究主题，以创建一条在佐治亚州亚特兰大和宾夕法尼亚州匹兹堡这两个主要大都市地区优化循环的途径。这两个城市将参与整个项目，并将获得数据，为利用科学技术为公共政策提供信息和支持决策提供便利。该项目将增加妇女和代表不足的少数群体在STEM中的参与，因为这些群体将被优先招收该项目的研究生；通过使用开放数据和免费的公民科学应用程序，提高公众的科学素养和公众对科学技术的参与；通过减少浪费和改善建筑环境，改善社会个人的福祉；通过皮特大学目前的教育中心和每所大学从事该项目的学生，培养一支多样化的、具有全球竞争力的STEM劳动力队伍；并加深学术界和其他人之间的合作伙伴关系。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The current linear consumption model of raw material extraction, production, use, and disposal has led to serious consequences, from resource depletion to global waste, spanning all industrial sectors from plastics to the built environment. In its place, a new circular model can be created by transforming how the end-of-life and/or re-use of materials are envisioned, using systems tools to guide the design. This project will advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare by using the team’s Circularity Assessment Protocol (CAP) to develop interconnected circular models for waste avoidance and material reuse across four different categories: molecules, plastics, organic materials, and the built environment. By creating a path to circularity across multiple materials and scales in two large metropolitan areas in geographically disparate regions (Pittsburgh, PA, and Atlanta, GA), their knowledge and improved practices can translate to other locations throughout the US, eventually scaling to other cities. This work crosses the boundaries of pollution, social intersectional issues, community engagement, financial systems, and education and curriculum development. Project data will be made freely and publicly available on the internet using the open access, open data tool Debris Tracker, adding to the over 6 million other data points for leakage of materials and materials management in nearly 100 countries around the world. Circularity city data will be compared not only between Pittsburgh and Atlanta but with other CAP cities worldwide like Manila, Philippines; Semarang, Indonesia; and Can Tho, Vietnam. This project will profoundly enhance and amplify the waste reduction and management programs of the team’s local NGO, government, and industry partners. Partner and stakeholder meetings will seek ways to ameliorate systemic and intersectional issues including pollution burdens, lack of infrastructure, and access to services. In contrast to linear models, circular economy (CE) decouples economic growth from resource consumption -- for example, meeting people’s needs without producing waste in the first place. CE principles are based on the efficient use of resources and eliminating waste from product life cycles; a truly circular economy keeps material in continuous use by design. By deeply integrating diverse disciplines through the process of the team’s previously developed, proven holistic systems framework, the Circularity Assessment Protocol (CAP), the project can tackle the complex challenges that currently inhibit the growth of the circular economy. This work will utilize the CAP framework to converge circularity across multiple scales for the first time: from molecules (e.g., function-property and ecotoxicity), to materials (e.g., polymers, electronics, paper products), and the built environment (e.g., design for value and reversible building design). Working with well-positioned collaborators from NGOs, government, and industry, the project team will converge and connect these siloed research topics to create a path to optimizing circularity in two major metropolitan areas, Atlanta, GA, and Pittsburgh, PA. The two cities will be involved throughout the project and will have access to data facilitating the use of science and technology to inform public policy and support decision-making. This project will increase participation of women and underrepresented minorities in STEM, as these groups will be prioritized in recruiting graduate students for the project; increase public scientific literacy and public engagement with science and technology through the use of open data and free mobile citizen science apps; improve the well-being of individuals in society by reducing waste and improving the built environment; develop a diverse, globally competitive STEM workforce through the current education center at UPitt and students working on this project at each university; and deepen partnerships between academia and others.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.