Space Waste Revolution Challenge

NASA sought innovative solutions for recycling food packaging and polymer waste for space and lunar missions. Managing waste was critical for establishing a long-term presence on the Moon, as current methods of discarding or burning waste upon re-entry were unsustainable.

Insights were needed to develop recycling technologies that:

• Processed various types of polymer waste, including food packaging.
• Operated efficiently in space or lunar environments.
• Produced high-quality recycled materials for manufacturing or other applications.
• Achieved high recycling efficiency (>90%).

Trash from food packaging was discarded during missions by release during re-entry, which incinerated the material. This was not useful for inhabiting the lunar surface where discarded materials would accumulate. The development of this technology enabled long-term sustainability by identifying packaging that could be processed into useful goods with high efficiency, minimizing waste.

Recycling food waste packaging from lunar or in-space human-operated missions was a necessity to reduce stored trash, prevent contamination of the terrain, and enable long-term human sustainability outside of terrestrial resources. A steady stream of packaging was disposed of after consuming the contents. The challenge sought answers to several key questions regarding packaging materials, coatings, cleaning, potential reuse for human-facing applications, required processes, and ideal supply chain management.

The project team was interested in understanding current and future food packaging, and how it could be converted into additive manufacturing (AM) feedstock.

Better understanding of:

• What coatings are typically found on packaging, and how can they be removed? For example, consider Capri-Sun packages with composite layers of aluminum and polymer.
• How can packaging be cleaned for processing and subsequent reuse?
• Can materials be repurposed for human-facing applications such as eating utensils, personal care items, or clothing?
• What existing processes are available for reusing these materials, or do we need to develop specialized methods?

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 2) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.