Plastic Plastic Everywhere

This is an evening lecture from Nick Cliffe, Head of Advanced Materials, Innovate UK. 6.00 pm for a 6.30 pm start.

It’s been over 160 years since Alexander Parkes created what many people regard to be the first thermoplastic, Parkesine, here in the UK. Plastics are now an intrinsic part of our modern industrial society; they play a key role in our food system, our transport system, construction, electronics and healthcare. We live in the plastic age. But the same properties which have made plastic so ubiquitous have resulted in a challenge that affects us all, we are only just beginning to understand the full impact that plastic pollution has on our environment and wondering what to do next.

This talk will take a look at our relationship with plastic, how we fell in love then out of love with it and offer some thoughts on what we could do to rekindle the relationship.

Speaker:

Nick Cliffe is Head of Advanced Materials at Innovate UK, the team de-risks commercialisation of materials of the future on behalf of the UK Government. This includes the most cutting-edge ceramics, metals, glass, polymers, nanomaterials and functional materials.

He has a particular focus on resource efficiency, circular economy and sustainability - embedding these themes across Innovate UK strategy and competitions, helping innovators consider the wider environmental and societal drivers of their markets and supporting UK businesses in exploring new manufacturing methods and business models.

Nick’s background in resource efficiency and circular economy was gained across 15 years in industry, he worked for Closed Loop Recycling, a large plastic bottle recycling business based in Dagenham, East London, where he managed various projects, including a project to create the first commercial plastic bottle made from recovered marine plastic waste. Nick also worked for a spin-off consultancy business, Closed Loop Environmental Solutions, managing projects such as launching a range of on-site food composting machines in the UK and a large waste auditing program for Heathrow Airport and various airlines to develop recycling options for both terminal and cabin waste.

Nick has a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Imperial College and a master’s degree in Oceanography from Southampton University.

This is a Royal Society of Chemistry Management Group event organised in collaboration with the Royal Society of Chemistry Chilterns and Middlesex Local Section.

There will be wine and networking at the end of the lecture.