1.5 Can we make the perfect plastic?

09/29/21 • 51 min

What makes a plastic recyclable? How can we design a plastic to be as sustainable as possible? And how does the way that we design specific products affect their impact on the environment?

In this episode we do a deep dive into the science of plastics – looking at how we might design plastic products with sustainability in mind. Dr Jenni Garden from the University of Edinburgh talks us through her research into different types of materials, while Mark Pawsey MP brings his 25 years experience of working in the field of plastic packaging. Meanwhile David Santillo talks us through what Greenpeace is doing to tackle the plastics problem.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What makes a plastic recyclable? How can we design a plastic to be as sustainable as possible? And how does the way that we design specific products affect their impact on the environment?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

1.4 Where does your recycled plastic go?

Where does your plastic go? What does it turn into? And how much of what we put in the recycling bin actually gets recycled?

In this episode we bring together guests from all stages of the recycling process, from designing the plastics to managing our local recycling infrastructure. Professor Mike Shaver, Director of the Sustainable Materials Innovation Hub at the Henry Royce Institute, Shirley Rodrigues, Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy and Council member Jess David, Member Advocate for Biodiversity walk us through the opportunities and pitfalls.

Hosted by Dr. Alex Lathbridge

Produced by Elisabeth Ratcliffe, Kathy Page and Hiren Joshi

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

1.6 Plastics and composting - can it work?

What are biodegradable plastics? And are they the same as compostable plastics? What about bioplastics? And are any of them better for the environment than alternatives?

This week we’re talking all things degradation, with a special focus on composting. We'll be hearing from Lesley Green and Professor Helen Hailes from University College London's Big Composting Experiment – they will tell us what happened when participants buried various plastics marketed as degradable in their compost heaps. Meanwhile Kathy Page from the Royal Society of Chemistry talks us through some of the vocabulary around these kinds of plastics.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.