The total capital cost (upfront investment) of the base upcycling infrastructure design shown in Figure was 51.4 billion USD. We investigated the effects of having limited investment budgets by resolving the MIP with total capital costs constrained by percent decrements from the base solution value. The results are shown in Figure ; despite the relative linearity of the relationship between percent of total waste captured in upcycling and capital cost, we highlight that limiting capital investment widens processing disparities at the regional level. As shown in S-Figure in the SI, the optimal upcycling network when investment is limited prioritizes areas of higher population density and higher waste production (such as the urban centers of the East and West coasts), but largely excludes regions such as the Great Plains and Northwest. This analysis thus reveals how the system naturally prioritizes regions with the highest economic potential.