Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
System and Decision Science for Plastics
Increasing plastic circularity requires an understanding of supply chains, economics, and manufacturing systems. The following outlines NIST’s research activities to advance system and decision science for plastics.
Research Activities
Life Cycle System and Decision Science for a Circular Economy
This effort has two key thrusts: (1) measurement advancements for incorporating circularity into life cycle system sciences and (2) decision science-related research and methods to address measurement science needs for increasing circularity. Several aspects of this larger effort focus on plastic circularity. These include:
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Polymers to Improve Circularity: This activity assesses the current state of applying LCA to plastics to identify and target research and data gaps to improve the accuracy and transparency of life cycle evaluations. It also evaluates tools and databases that currently exist for completing LCAs for plastics to identify areas for improvement, including data and modeling gaps. Read more. Contact: Joshua Kneifel.
The databases and software that are being evaluated as well as the potential end-of-life scenarios for plastics. Credit: Joshua Kneifel- U.S. Plastics Recycling Economy: NIST examined the current state of plastics recycling, manufacturing, usage, and waste handling in the United States in a 2024 report. Contact: Douglas Thomas.
- Agricultural Plastics Survey: NIST executed a survey to gather data on agricultural plastics usage and disposal. Learn more in this NIST spotlight and publication. Contacts: Julie Rieland and Christina Gore.
- Recycled Content in Plastic Goods Survey: We are in the process of completing a survey using a discrete choice experiment with information treatments to expand the measurement science of survey design methodologies and assess consumer perspectives and willingness to pay for recycled plastic content in consumer goods. Contact: Christina Gore.
Manufacturing in a Circular Economy
NIST develops tools and methodologies to assess and improve product and process design and performance, collaborating with stakeholders to create new standards, tools, and data sets that enable circular economy strategies. These resources help manufacturers measure and improve resource efficiency, reduce waste, and adapt to changing product designs and material streams, ultimately enabling them to demonstrate results and measure progress. Read More. Contact: KC Morris.
Work related to plastic circularity includes:
- Recycled Plastic Flows and Pathway Analysis: NIST has analyzed the material flows and developed approaches to compare impacts of different uses for recycled plastics. Related publications include a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) material flow analysis, a comparison of pathways for recycled HDPE, and an opportunity analysis for polyvinyl chloride roofing membrane recycling.
Explore the rest of the Circular Economy program’s Polymer / Plastics activities.