Brightcon 2026, hackathon and courses

Highlights / Discussion Points:
Primary takeaway: How can lab based product disassembly and characterization data reliably feed LCA and policy relevant open databases?
We hope to co-create the following takeaways:
A shared understanding of minimum requirements for reliability and usability of product characterization data in LCA databases
Community input on priority gaps and barriers to integration
Initial ideas and collaborations for scaling open, networked lab based data infrastructures within the Brightcon community
Initial ideas for a data validation and review approaches

Description
There is an urgent need for high quality, transparent data on the material composition, design characteristics, and circularity potential of common goods to support policy instruments such as Safe and Sustainable by Design, Digital Product Passports, and Product Environmental Footprint.
Across the world, many laboratories are already generating this kind of detailed data through, for example, product disassembly and waste characterization. However, much of this data remains fragmented, difficult to integrate into life cycle inventories, and under utilized in LCA and MFA studies and databases.
This 60 minute plenum session aims to bring together data users, database developers, and practitioners to explore how laboratory, field, and waste characterization data can be more effectively digitized, harmonized, and integrated into open source databases which can be accessed by a network of labs and practitioners alike.
Using the CML Re.Lab pilot citizen science disassembly platform as an example, the session will combine inputs with interactive polling and structured group discussion to address the following questions:

• What tools, standards, and reporting practices are needed to harmonize disassembly and product characterization data across labs?
• What are practitioners’ experiences (the good, the bad, and the ugly) when integrating lab or field based data into LCA, MFA, and policy studies?
• How can data quality, reliability indicators, and critical review processes be designed to support both scientific rigor and openness?
• What would it take to scale pilots such as the CML platform into a federated network of labs, researchers, and citizen scientists?
In the sprit of Brightcon, this plenum is intended as a community building and agenda setting conversation, helping align technical, methodological, and governance needs around product data to better support open source LCA and evidence based sustainability policy.