Stewardship of the environment is one of the key principles in Genesis 1:28, when given the responsibility of having dominion over the world. Stewardship of how we handle our plastic waste is clearly impacting the environment. Globally, 460 million metric tons of plastics are produced annually with the vast majority being landfilled, incinerated, or lost to the environment. Developing and deploying viable routes to recover and recycle the plastic is essential to reduce the impact on the environment and reduce the demand for fossil feedstocks. This seminar will dive into the chemical routes that will play an important role in how we efficiently manage our waste plastic through recycling. Some of the topics discussed will include reuse, mechanical recycling, dissolution, depolymerization, gasification, and pyrolysis. Key to developing viable recycling routes are scientists that leverage their chemistry, engineering and science education to deploy effective recycling.
