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Material Science

There's no silver bullet to creating a circular economy for all materials. Different material types have their own chemical compositions, value chains and collection infrastructures. The following categories represent some of the fastest growing waste streams in the U.S. and larger world. NIST is working to keep them out of landfills, incinerators and the environment, and in the economy indefinitely.

Optical micrographs of spherulitic growth during crystallization
recycling textiles
Credit: Supakorn Limteerayos/Shutterstock

 

high tech waste square
Credit: andreahuyoff/Pixabay
building materials
Credit: Ralph/Pixabay
Created January 4, 2023