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Few industrial chemicals have ever been produced, used, and disposed of without some release to the environment, and environmental and public health issues emerge only after chemical accumulation happens. To avoid chemical accumulation, we must design our materials to degrade. Most visibly, the plastics pollution crisis highlights this need and the reality that recycling alone can not solve this challenge. Advances in robotics and computation are helping us machine learn what about chemical structure imparts environmental degradation and functional performance. Using that information, we can predict and prevent future environmental damage. That is Planetary Stewardship.
Desiree Plata: Design for Degradation: Or Bust | TED Talk