circular economy learning lab (cell)

CELL aims to develop a common understanding of what a circular bioeconomy looks like in practice, while also examining the social and behavioral factors that influence adoption and acceptance.

Key questions include:

• What limits acceptance of circular systems?
• Can complex circular systems be made operational, understandable, and actionable?

CELL is envisioned as a shared space for transdisciplinary experimentation, enabling researchers to develop and evaluate integrated processes with real‑world relevance.

System elements under consideration include:

• Food waste as feedstock for biological and energy conversion
• Energy recovery supporting controlled‑environment agriculture
• Substrates for mushroom and crop production
• Process development for food and beverage products
• Reusable food and beverage packaging
• Energy and lighting optimization for indoor agriculture

These elements are intentionally connected to allow evaluation of system‑level tradeoffs, constraints, and performance, rather than isolated outcomes.

Data and artificial intelligence are central to CELL’s design.

CELL will use integrated sensing, modeling, and AI‑enabled tools to:

• Develop actionable circularity analysis frameworks
• Identify currently unexploited loops within known systems
• Study how insights from well‑characterized systems can inform more complex or less‑understood ones
• Support decision‑making for researchers, industry partners, and stakeholders

In this way, CELL functions as both a physical system and a decision‑support system.

Education and outreach are foundational to CELL.

CELL is designed to provide:

• Experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students
• Workforce‑relevant training aligned with industry needs
• Extension and outreach activities that translate system‑level research into practical tools

Planned activities include demonstrations of reusable packaging, field days, public‑facing enterprises, and opportunities for knowledge co‑creation with producers, industry, and communities.

The CELL system integrates:

• Food and organic waste streams
• Processing and fermentation
• Anaerobic digestion and energy generation
• Controlled‑environment agriculture
• Consumer markets and reuse
• Material recovery and composting

The emphasis is on flows, feedbacks, and system behavior, supported by data and modeling, rather than on individual technologies alone.

CELL is currently in Phase I, focused on team formation and problem definition. During this phase, the goal is to:

• Assemble an interdisciplinary group of researchers and partners
• Define the system boundaries and research questions
• Identify the most appropriate funding pathway
• Co‑develop a competitive, center‑scale proposal targeted for submission in 2027

This is not a finished plan. The direction, scope, and structure of CELL are being shaped now by the people involved.

CELL depends on expertise that shapes the work from the start, including:

• Systems thinkers and integrators
• Process engineers and biological scientists
• Data scientists and AI modelers
• Economists and market researchers
• Social and behavioral scientists

These perspectives are essential to defining a system that is technically sound, economically viable, and socially adoptable.