The LunaRecycle Challenge is a $3 million, two track, two-phase competition focused on the design and development of recycling solutions that can reduce non-metabolic waste and improve the sustainability of longer-term lunar missions.
 
NASA is committed to sustainable space exploration. As we prepare for future human space missions, there will be a need to consider how various waste streams, including non-metabolic waste, can be minimized—as well as how recyclables can be stored, processed, and repurposed in a space environment so that little or no waste will need to be returned to Earth.
 
The challenge also can influence and inspire better approaches and outcomes for terrestrial recycling—through entirely novel approaches, processes that improve efficiency and reduce toxic outputs, and smaller-scale technologies that could be deployed in communities around the globe.