Plastics Unwrapped Maithreyi Seetharaman

The Asia Pacific region tends to dominate the rankings and headlines in coverage surrounding global plastic waste. But the pace of innovation and change in plastics production, consumption and waste in the region has been faster than you think, led by China. This episode explores new policies being introduced and what can lead to solution scaling, with Junice Yeo, Executive Director at Eco-Business, Thomas Luedi, Senior Partner at Bain & Company, and Kodak Xiao, Global Sustainability Director at Dow.

In this episode, entrepreneurs David Roubach and Felix Bobbink share their sustainability innovations within the plastics industry and how they are revolutionizing plastics at both consumer and industrial levels. Dow Global Business Development Director Christophe Marché highlights the need for large businesses to pivot and become disruptive, and University of California, Berkeley professor Dr. Ting Xu shares how at the core of all this disruptive innovation is science and research.

Mechanical recycling has existed for decades, but capacity isn’t keeping up with demand. In part two of our recycling and beyond conversation, Dow Global Sustainability Director Haley Lowry and Neste Vice President of Value Chain Development Jeroen Verhoeven discuss alternative innovations the industry is focusing on to fill gaps for recycled plastic requirements and carbon emission targets, including advanced recycling— also known as molecular or chemical recycling.

Recycling and Beyond Part 1 explores the challenges of waste management in countries on the frontline of dealing with plastic waste. With insights from Zoë Lenkiewicz, Waste Management and Sustainable Development Specialist at the United Nations Environment Program, and Chege Ngugi, Regional Director in Africa of ChildFund International, this episode takes a look at the impact, challenges and solutions of collection, sorting and recycling for communities most impacted by plastic waste in Africa.

Design Thinking Plastics Part 2 continues our deep dive into how design can redefine the sustainability of plastics. In this episode, we discover how businesses and designers are putting design thinking to action with Rosalie McMillan, Co-founder of Smile Plastics, and Daniella Souza Miranda, Global Marketing Director at Dow.

What does design thinking plastics for a future of sustainability mean? In Design Thinking Plastics Part 1, Tony Chambers, Founder of TC & Friends and former editor-in-chief of Wallpaper, delves into how design thinking reimagines the role of plastics in our lives, helps drive solutions for its end of life and its future in a circular world.