Plastic is part of our lives: from the most obvious uses, such as water bottles, to the more subtle and hidden, such as the clothes we wear, this material pervades our daily lives. Its use, combined with the throwaway culture, has led Western and non-Western societies to produce an exorbitant amount of waste: the WWF has calculated that every week we ingest about 5 grams of plastic, the equivalent of a credit card, and that by 2050 the mass of plastics in the oceans will exceed that of fish. Already today there are more than 150 million tonnes of plastic in the oceans and 396 million tonnes of plastic are still being produced each year. The problem of pollution and the environment, rivers, seas and oceans caused by plastic waste has captured the attention of much of the public and governments. This has led to a strong aversion to a material that, however, can be – and has been – used in a circular way for years.

In this webinar, we will present the current situation of plastics recycling, the solutions already established in industry, and the most innovative and promising solutions in making plastics an even more sustainable material. Guest speakers and Alumni of the University of Padua will help us to analyse this controversial issue.

The initiative is promoted by the Alumni Associations and Friends of the University of Padua as part of the ‘Rethinking Circular Economy’ series of meetings, to enhance, bring together and interact with the broader community of the University of Padua and those who have distinguished themselves in the various fields of the circular economy in their academic career and profession.