Highlights:
Advocate for planners’ roles in the engineering-dominant field of MWM: integrates MWM with interrelated planning domains (e.g., environment, infrastructure, finance, economy, equity, data and technology)
Increase community awareness of MWM: develops a web interactive tool for community-based food waste management planning and landfill diversion
Balance goals of environmental performance with financial viability: surveys various approaches that municipalities have adopted to manage MWM programs during economic recession
Provide data references for local and regional MWM planning and solid waste management: develops scalable models of waste generation and characterization that can be adapted for different geographies, provide planning references for local communities where data challenges are common, and reveal social disparities related to MWM
Selected Publications:
Ning Ai and Nancey Green Leigh. 2017. “Planning for Sustainable Material and Waste Management.” American Planning Association Planning Advisory Service (PAS) Report #587. ISBN 978-1-61190-195-5. https://www.planning.org/publications/report/9124041/
Ning Ai and Junjun Zheng. 2019. Community-Based Food Waste Modeling and Planning Framework for Urban Regions. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. 9(1): 39-58. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2019.091.009
Ning Ai, Junjun Zheng, and Weiqiang Chen. 2019. U.S. End-of-Life Electric Vehicle Batteries: Dynamic Inventory Modeling and Spatial Analysis for Regional Solutions. Resource, Conservation, and Recycling, 145: 208-219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.01.021
Ning Ai, Junjun Zheng, Matt Rundquist, and Taylor Gendel. 2021. Chicago Waste Generation and Characterization Update 2010-2020. Report submitted to the City of Chicago and Delta Institute on March 1, 2021. https://delta-institute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Characterization-Report-7.12.21.pdf?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=7f683a8d-7f80-483a-93ef-bffda4a0a8d5
Ning Ai, Ph.D. 