Royal Society of Chemistry event

On 29 September 2021, UNSW SMaRT Centre Director, Professor Veena will speak at the UK-based Royal Society of Chemistry's 'Plastics and climate change' seminar as part of a series of events leading up to the international COP26 conference.

She will join three other globally leading researchers and speakers talking about:

• Emissions from plastic production and use 
• Alternative raw materials for plastics
• Carbon dioxide utilisation for plastics
• Design for better plastics
• Plastic as a sustainable material
• The impact of dealing with plastic
   

Event information and registration

Event Overview

Plastics are light, versatile, durable, cheap, and have low toxicity levels, and as such they deliver many benefits for society. However, their usefulness and adaptability has led to an explosion in the amount of plastics that we use, and often carelessly discard. Plastics impact the environment through the mountains of waste which persist for many decades, and also because of the energy and carbon impact of their production and use. In some applications though, plastic can still be the most sustainable material. This panel will discuss the intersecting issues of plastic and climate change, alternative raw materials, and the impact of dealing with plastic waste.