The Center for Innovative Recycling and Circular Economy (CIRCLE) is one of six National Science Foundation (NSF) Global Centers. CIRCLE international partnerships include funding agencies in Canada, Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom, jointly supporting use-inspired research addressing global challenges through the bioeconomy.

CIRCLE will focus on addressing the pressing issues of air pollution reduction, agricultural and food waste treatment, and plastic waste disposal through disruptive solutions—challenges that transcend national borders and require a multidisciplinary approach. By addressing these global challenges through international collaboration and innovative research, CIRCLE aims to make a significant impact on human health and the environment.

The team will focus on scalable solutions for “waste-stream valorization”—the process of taking waste products and giving them renewed economic value through recycling or upcycling. Another aim is to provide sustainable solutions for the commercially viable production of energy, chemicals, and materials.

The scientific aims will focus on developing three core technologies:

1. Multi-omics-based bioprospecting to discover new enzymes, gene regulators, and organisms for waste valorization
2. Predictive computational approaches to enable forward engineering of proteins and strains for biomanufacturing, and
3. Techno-economic analysis (TEA), life cycle analysis (LCA), and risk assessment to develop commercially viable bioprocesses for waste valorization.

These core technologies will be validated for generalizability, scalability, and sustainable bioproduction through three waste streams: mixed plastics, C1 gases (e.g., carbon monoxide and dioxide), and biogenic wastes (e.g., food, agricultural, and paper/cardboard waste).

In addition to scientific output, CIRCLE is committed to training the next generation of scientists and engineers. The Center will offer unique interdisciplinary training opportunities in synthetic biology, systems biology, multi-omics, bioinformatics, computational biology, chemistry, systems engineering, risk assessment, TEA/LCA, and chemical engineering. CIRCLE will also engage the global community through multiple outreach activities, providing free education to ensure the sustainability and broad impact of its innovative approaches.

Funding

This Center is jointly supported by NSF, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the National Research Foundation of Korea, and UK Research and Innovation through NSF award #2435184.

Publications