An informative session on sustainable plastic waste management and its future potential with Prof. Ina Vollmer-Utrecht University- Seattle- Guest seminar for EME/CHE 597-Hosted by Prof. Ezgi Toraman.
The plastic problem
Decades of polymer engineering have led to various plastic materials with a variety of tunable properties and applications saving, for example, transport-related CO2 emissions or improving hygiene. Considerably less effort has gone into circular strategies for avoiding and dealing with the waste created. The majority of plastic waste is landfilled, burned, or leaks to the environment, harming wildlife and potentially humans, i.e. in the form of additives or micro- and nanoplastics via the food-chain. Unfortunately, only 12 % (by weight) of plastic packaging is recycled globally, mainly because the predominantly applied recycling technique of melting and re-extrusion produces a lower quality plastic. In addition, this process requires a highly pure stream of certain types of polymers. Only polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyolefins are currently recycled this way on a significant scale.