Talking Plastics

If we want to phase out crude oil, natural gas and coal as feedstock for plastics, we need to look at the alternatives. Plant oils are such an alternative. This episode shortly explains why this is the case. But we go further. What techniques do scientists use to evaluate these novel feedstocks on the viability? How do these work, and can they be improved? This episode discusses the scientific methods Multi-Criteria Decision making (MCDM) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).NB. While we gave 1 example of how bio-based fats and oils are used to make plastics, there are several other routes, including for example ethylene cracking.To do this, we have the following guests:Dr. LI SHEN from the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development of Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Li is an assistant professor and LCA practitioner, engineer and environmental scientist.LAURA ÄKRÄS of the Polymer Technology group of Aalto University. Laura is a doctoral student and has a master’s degree in Fiber and Polymer engineering. Laura works on MCDM and LCA analyses of bio-based plastics.Dr. JYRI MAUNUKSELA is a principle specialist at LUKE, the Natural Resources Institute Finland where he works in the Biorefinery and bioproducts group. He looks at the holistic sustainability of different alternatives for replacing fossil-based plastics.The episode is hosted by BAS VAN BOCHOVE, a postdoctoral researcher from the polymer technology group of the School of Chemical Engineering at Aalto University. Bas has worked with polymerizations of novel biopolymers and contributed to the ValueBioMat project.List of references we used for this episode:1. Ohlrogge et al. The Biochemist. 2011, 33 (2), 34-38.2. https://plasticseurope.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Plastics-the-Facts-2021-web-final.pdf accessed 29.4.2022.3. https://plasticseurope.org/plastics-explained/a-large-family/polyolefins-2/ accessed 29.3.2022.4. Hillmyer. Science. 2017, 358 (6365), 868-870.5. Danov et al. Catalysis Science & Technology. 2017, 7 (17), 3659-3675.6. Di Mauro et al. Biomacromolecules. 2020, 21, 3923-3939.7. Tran et al. Macromolecules. 2020, 53 (7), 2526-2538.8. Rosenboom et al. Nature Reviews. 2022, 7, 117-137.9. Thakkar et al. 2021. Multi-Criteria Decision Making, First edit. ed. Singapore: Springer.10. Mardani et al. Expert Systems with Application. 2015, 42 (8), 4126-4148.11. Gogate. Petroleum Science and Technology. 2019, 37(5), 559-565.12. https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=34&t=6 accessed 30.6.2022.13. https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2020/02/black-coal-white-trash/ accessed 30.6.2022.Talking Plastics podcast is brought to you by Valuebiomat, to be found as @valuebiomat on twitter, valuebiomat on youtube, and on valuebiomat.fi. Valuebiomat is funded by the Strategic research Council (SRC) established within the Academy of Finland. You can find the Talking Podcast in Twitter as @TalkingPlastics, and contact us at TalkingPlasticsPodcast@gmail.com.

In this episode, we discuss the plastics life cycle from a polymer perspective.An easily convincing and effective narrative can be shaped around plastics. The feedstock is fossil fuel based, the production is polluting, and after use, plastics end up on the landfill, are incinerated, or end up in nature. This leads to an easy conclusion that everything about plastics is bad. Is this true? Is it only bad and ugly? Certainly, all these steps have concerns. But polymer scientists are working on making these steps sustainable. Different feedstocks and new recycling techniques for example. And, there are also good things about plastics. We even touch on the energy transition, because as it turns out, it’s all connected.We discuss these topics with Prof. JUKKA SEPPÄLÄ. Jukka is professor Polymer Technology at Aalto University and has decades of experience in both industry and academia in working with the synthesis and characterization of novel (bio)polymers.The episode is hosted by BAS VAN BOCHOVE, a postdoctoral researcher from the polymer technology group of the School of Chemical Engineering at Aalto University. Bas has worked with polymerizations of novel biopolymers and contributed to the ValueBioMat project.References we used for this episode:1. www.renewable-carbon.eu/graphics, nova-institute.eu, 2021.2. Rosenboom, et al. Nature Reviews. 2022 (7) 117-137.3. Vogt et al. ACS Appl. Polym. Mater. 2021, 3, 4325-4346.4. Andrady et al. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2009 Jul 27; 364(1526): 1977–1984.5. Häussler et al. Closed-loop recycling of polyethylene-like materials. Nature 2021 (590) 423-427.Talking Plastics podcast is brought to you by Valuebiomat, to be found as @valuebiomat on twitter, valuebiomat on youtube, and on valuebiomat.fi. Valuebiomat is funded by the Strategic research Council (SRC) established within the Academy of Finland. You can find the Talking Podcast in Twitter as @TalkingPlastics, and contact us at TalkingPlasticsPodcast@gmail.com.

In this episode, we will discuss the present state and future of the plastics economy, and what is needed to transition toward more sustainable modes of production and consumption.Today, we produce around 400 million tons of plastic every year. The absolute majority of this is produced from fossil raw materials. Furthermore, despite recent progress in recycling plastic waste, particularly in the EU, most of plastic waste still ends up in landfills or leaks into natural environments. Thus, we urgently need solutions to reduce the environmental impact of plastics, and pave way for a future that is both economically and environmentally sustainable.The episode begins with a discussion on the environmental impacts of plastics. We then explore the solutions needed to mitigate these issues, with emphasis on improving the recycling of plastic waste and shifting to the use of bio-based raw materials in the production of primary plastics. We also discuss the actors who play a critical role in transitioning toward a sustainable plastics economy, and touch on the challenges that start-up companies face in bringing new and more sustainable plastics solutions to the market.We will explore these issues, and possible solutions, with TOMI NYMAN. Tomi has a background in chemical engineering, and has worked with several cutting-edge solutions in improving the sustainability of plastics production throughout his career. Tomi was involved in the development of renewable products at Neste, and was one of the main architects in developing Neste’s bioplastics business. Since then, Tomi has worked as a consultant, advisor, and board member in several ventures related to sustainable plastics, and is the founder and CEO of November consulting, which aims to reduce global CO2 emissions by 1 Gt.The episode is hosted by JAAKKO SILTALOPPI. Jaakko is a post-doctoral researcher at Aalto University, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management. Jaakko has worked with several questions linked to sustainable business and innovation. In the ValueBioMat project, Jaakko’s research focuses on the analysis of sustainable business models and system-level transitions toward more sustainable plastics economy.Talking Plastics podcast is brought to you by Valuebiomat, to be found as @valuebiomat on twitter, valuebiomat on youtube, and on valuebiomat.fi. Valuebiomat is funded by the Strategic research Council (SRC) established within the Academy of Finland. You can find the Talking Podcast in Twitter as @TalkingPlastics, and contact us at TalkingPlasticsPodcast@gmail.com.

In this episode produced by the team at University of Lapland, led by Rosa-Maria Ballardini, we discuss current legal challenges related to plastics with two guests: Dr. Anna Haapanen, partner and Head of Technology at Dittmar & Indrenius Attorneys and Associate Oskari Paasikivi also at Dittmar & Indrenius. Anna and Oskari advise clients on a broad variety of assignments concerning new technologies and related regulatory and intellectual property issues and have recent experience on advising their clients on the development, production and marketing of biobased plastics and other solutions in the circular economy. In this episode, they shed light from the legal perspective on some of these challenges, potential solutions and difficulties that remain. In particular, we discuss what plastics are understood to be in legislation pertaining to plastics (e.g. the Single-Use Plastics Directive), how the obligations imposed in this legislation can be managed in complex supply chains and what kinds of intellectual property issues arise in this context and how they can be solved.GUESTS AND CONTRIBUTORSJUHA VESALA is university lecturer at the University of Lapland. In the Valubiomat project, he focuses on sustainability issues in the fields of competition law and intellectual property, particularly those concerning circular plastics ecosystems.ANNA HAAPANEN is Partner and Head of Technology at Dittmar & Indrenius, and advices clients with a broad range of technology intensive intellectual property right matters, with a particular focus on complex IP related agreements and commercial arrangements, including technology transactions and regulatory aspects of new technologies.OSKARI PAASIKIVI is an Associate at Dittmar & Indrenius and advises clients in questions surrounding data protection, technology as well as consumer and marketing law, as well as various regulatory issues surrounding innovative products. He also has experience in the field of M&A, with a particular focus on technology focused transactions.For a further take on European plastics legislation, you can find Anna and Oskari’s recent article ‘Summer ’21 marks the beginning of the end for single-use plastics in Europe’ on Dittmar & Indrenius' website at https://www.dittmar.fi/insight/summer-21-marks-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-single-use-plastics-in-europe/ROSA MARIA BALLARDINI is professor of intellectual property law at the University of Lapland. She leads the team that is focussing on fostering resource wisdom though legislative and policy actions.The Talking Plastics Podcast is brought to you by Valuebiomat, to be found as @valuebiomat on Twitter, Valuebiomat on Youtube and on valuebiomat.fi. Valuebiomat is funded by the Strategic research Council (SRC) established within the Academy of Finland. You can find the podcast at @TalkingPlastics on Twitter and can contact us at TalkingPlasticsPodcast@gmail.com.

As we are working very hard on making the first episodes of the talking plastics podcast, here is a short teaser where hosts Jaakko, Corinna and Bas explain what to expect.The Talking Plastics podcast is brought to you by Valuebiomat, to be found as @valuebiomat on twitter, valuebiomat on youtube and on valuebiomat.fi. Valuebiomat is funded by the Strategic Research Council (SRC) established within the Academy of Finland. You can find US at @TalkingPlastics on twitter and can contact us at TalkingPlasticsPodcast@gmail.com.