The usefulness of plastic in every aspect of our lives is sadly matched by the ubiquity of discarded plastic; over 350 million tonnes are produced annually but only a fraction of these plastics are recycled and many are pervasive materials not designed for degradation.
Plastic pollution, visible around the world on land and in our oceans, is a direct result of the extraordinary durability of current plastics. Plastics, however, are also vital to meeting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. They are used in lightweight transport for greater fuel efficiency, water purification membranes, high-performance electronics, food waste reduction, efficient insulation, and in essential medical devices like IV bags, syringes and catheters.
Restructuring the lifecycle of plastics to become more ‘circular’, i.e. eliminating waste by designing for disassembly and re-use, has the potential to solve many of these problems while maintaining plastic’s valuable contribution towards meeting the SDGs. Solving the problems with the current manufacture, use and disposal of plastics requires thinking across deeply ingrained disciplinary boundaries as well as strong engagement with the manufacturing and end-use industries. This programme will bring together experts to work creatively on the technical, economic and legal issues around a future plastics economy that supports, rather than undermines, the SDGs.
We will work to develop new materials for use in those plastics sectors that present particularly difficult problems. Part of this will be investigating the under-explored concept of chemical recycling where plastics are broken down to their base ingredients and those are re-used. This would allow multiple recycling loops for the same plastics without compromising their useful properties. In the long term, we also aim to develop packaging that is both recyclable and biodegradable.
As well as the new materials themselves, we will also develop an implementation roadmap identifying how to break down the market, regulatory and social barriers to their widespread adoption. This will be developed with feedback from stakeholders including industry, NGOs, international bodies and academia.
Our core objective is moving to a new plastics economy, where future plastics are fully recyclable but ultimately degradable. Developing interventions to change technology, law, social policy, human behaviour and economics, as well as the prototyping of patented materials and products, will be essential to achieving this. We envision a future that limits environmental damage and pollution without losing the many benefits that plastics provide.
Lead Researcher on the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Plastics, Professor Charlotte Williams, has had her work in partnership with colleagues at the University of Liverpool recognised by Unilever’s Clean Future ‘Brilliance’ Award.
Nowadays, waste separation and recycling has become a routine act of our daily lives. Recycling bins are a common sight in many households, and in some places a government mandate. But when most people think about recycling plastics, they know little about the fate of their plastic waste.
The Oxford Net Zero initiative draws on the university’s world-leading expertise in climate science and policy, addressing the critical issue of how to reach global ‘net zero’ – limiting greenhouse gases – in time to halt global warming.
Academics including Professor Charlotte Williams, one of the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Plastics’ lead researchers, have sought to reassure the public that reusable containers are safe to use during the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Professor of Environmental Economics
Chichele Professor of Public International Law
Professor of Inorganic Chemistry
Postdoctoral Researcher Law
Postdoctoral Researcher Chemistry
Postdoctoral Researcher Economics
High Elasticity, Chemically Recyclable, Thermoplastics From Bio-Based Monomers: Carbon Dioxide, Limonene Oxide And Ε-Decalactone
Heterodinuclear Catalysts Zn(II)/M And Mg(II)/M, Where M = Na(I), Ca(II) Or Cd(II), For Phthalic Anhydride/Cyclohexene Oxide Ring Opening Copolymerisation
High-Performance Plastic Made From Renewable Oils Is Chemically Recyclable By Design
Ultrarapid Cerium(III)–NHC Catalysts for High Molar Mass Cyclic Polylactide
Ortho-Vanillin Derived Al(III) And Co(III) Catalyst Systems For Switchable Catalysis Using Ε-Decalactone, Phthalic Anhydride And Cyclohexene Oxide
Bio‐based and Degradable Block Polyester Pressure‐Sensitive Adhesives
Triblock Polyester Thermoplastic Elastomers With Semi-Aromatic Polymer End Blocks By Ring-Opening Copolymerization
Understanding Metal Synergy In Heterodinuclear Catalysts For The Copolymerization Of CO2 And Epoxides
Switchable Catalysis Improves the Properties of CO2-Derived Polymers: Poly(cyclohexene carbonate-b-ε-decalactone-b-cyclohexene carbonate) Adhesives, Elastomers, and Toughened Plastics
Experts from the Oxford Martin School, the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and The Purpose Business joined forces in May 2020 to look at the future of plastics and moving to a new plastics economy.
Oxford researchers Professor Charlotte Williams and Professor Cameron Hepburn took part in the webinar, which was moderated by Dr Merrin Pearse of The Purpose Business.
Read the key takeaways here, and watch the full webinar here.
