In episode 11 of the Interplas Insights podcast, Dave Gray talks to Professor Michael Shaver at the University of Manchester, about Recon² a new polymer additive he's developing which could help recyclers, processors and brand owners certify claims made about recycled content across their plastic packaging supply chains.

If you're a recycler, or stakeholder in the plastics packaging supply chain, and would like to connect with Professor Shaver and find out more about participating in the research, email his team at contact@reconsquared.com.

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Dave Gray catches up with Mark Lawson at Sierra 57 Consult, and Shaun Champion at Talisman Plastics. Mark's recruitment agency to the plastics sector recently launched training modules, which Shaun's trade moulding business has been one of the first to take advantage of.

In this episode, find out why employment in plastics and manufacturing is changing, what that means for the skills gap, how Talisman has responded to the Plastics Tax, and much more.

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We caught up with Luke Smoothy, Director, and Aiza Sadirbayeva, Project Manager, to find out more about the grant, and learn about Aiza's experience of studying to be an engineer.

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Plastic Free Mersey is an initiative which aims to bring together science, funding and education to help address the issue of plastic pollution in the River Mersey. Crucially, it involves some major players in the plastics industry in a collaborative partnership.

In this episode, Dave Gray speaks to key stakeholders in the project:

• Chris Coode, Deputy Chief Executive at Thames21

• Jason Leadbitter, Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at INOVYN.

• Jim Seward, Senior Vice President, Research & Development, Technology & Sustainability at LyondellBasell, and chairman of the Executive Committee of the World Plastics Council

• John Sanders, Strategic Planning Director at the Mersey Rivers Trust

We covered a broad range of topics, including

• The importance of collaborative working between industry, government, NGOs, charities and the public. In particular, the importance of industry lending not only finance and advocacy, but also actively sharing science and expertise.
• The Global Plastics Treaty – key industry voices discuss the virtues of limiting production vs. design for circularity.
• How we can create value for waste.
• What do we really mean when we say ‘circular economy’?
• The lifecycle assessments of plastics (in certain industries) compared to alternative materials – why plastics have a sustainable role to play in society.
• Why the industry has a responsibility to prove that there are models that work – and deserve funding.
• The importance of training citizen scientists to truly understand problem plastics
• Sharing scientifically-sound information about problem plastics that exist in our rivers with local communities.
• The potential of chemical recycling.

Listen to this episode via the player above, or listen and subscribe via the following channels:

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Recorded live at Greenplast 2022 at the Fiera Milano, Milan, Italy, this episode sees Dave Gray and Rob Coker interview exhibitors including Plasmac, Syncro, Arburg and Sirmax.

Find out why Plasmac and Syncro are the Italian success stories on a rapid ascent to the top of the plastic machinery and equipment world. Plus, Arburg shows the AllRounder lives up to its name (and colour!), delivering on its green credentials. Finally, who knew a plastic trade show would feature so much art? Only in Italy…

Avient is a provider of speciality additives and polymers. As with all players along the plastics supply chain, Avient is looking at responsible solutions to increase the sustainability of plastics. Additives in particular can add many benefits to plastics, but they can also impact on recyclability. Dave spoke to Jan about a facility that the group opened in 2020 – Cycleworks – to find out what Jan and his colleagues have learned about the recyclability of polymer additives.

In this episode, Dave Gray speaks to Dan Jordan, materials specialist at UK ancillaries distributor Summit Systems, and Kieran Kelly, founder at RIO Oceans Integrity.

This is a remarkable story about a partnership that was borne out of the COVID pandemic. Find out how a surplus of NHS aprons has taken Dan Jordan on a journey across the world with an environmental activist.

Dave caught up with Dan and Kieran, and heard Kieran’s fascinating story – from his beginnings as a commercial fisherman, the vision of plastics that made him sell his business, and his current role pioneering new technologies and strategies for dealing with the problem of ocean plastics.

To read more on the story, take a look here.