The Future of Plastics: How do we move to a new plastics economy?
Please note this is an online event scheduled for 10:00 am UK time (BST), 17:00 HKT (UTC+8)
Featuring leading professors from Oxford’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and experts from The Purpose Business, this webinar looks at the future of plastics and potential moves to a new plastics economy. The session will explore the technical, economic and legal issues around a future plastics economy as well as the challenges and opportunities it offers. There will be a particular focus on restructuring the lifecycle of plastics to become more ‘circular’, in other words designing them for disassembly and re-use, thereby eliminating waste.

Given the extraordinary durability of plastics, it’s difficult to imagine a world without them. Regrettably it is currently even harder to imagine a world without plastic pollution, something which has become all too visible around the world on land and in the oceans alike. However, it doesn’t have to be this way and there are numerous ways where we can change our relationship with plastics. Through a combination of advancing technology, law, social policy, human behaviour and economics, as well as the prototyping of patented materials and products, it’s possible to envision a future that limits environmental damage and pollution without losing the many benefits that plastics provide.

The experts leading this webinar will highlight the opportunities and challenges to reduce our dependency on plastics – particularly single-use – by managing waste sustainably. As a key element of the dynamic ESG challenges that businesses, governments, and individuals all need to be looking at, there is no better time to address this critical issue.
Date: 7 May 2020, 10:00 (Thursday, 2nd week, Trinity 2020)
Venue: Login details will be provided after registration
Speaker: Various Speakers
Organising department: Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment
Organiser: Prof. Cameron Hepburn
Organiser contact email address: events@smithschool.ox.ac.uk
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://future-of-plastics.eventbrite.co.uk
Cost: Free
Audience: Public
Editors: Chris White, Anna Baginska, Donna Palfreman