Theme: Plastic

colourful rubber bands

Searching for eco-friendly, sustainable plastic

Plastic is a versatile material that we want to continue to use, but the plastic production and pollution of today leads to sustainability and environmental problems. Researchers within the STEPS programme at Lund University envision a future society in which plastics are produced, used and recycled in a sustainable way...

How do we create a sustainable cycle of plastic?

We are currently facing an adjustment of society in which our mentality, where everything’s disposable, needs to change to one where we take financial and environmental responsibility. The focus is greatly placed on a material that we have learned that we simply cannot be without. Plastic. “How can we change...

Can you imagine a world without plastic?

We continue to produce more and more plastic. In the EU, we use about 100 kg of plastic per person, per year. However, the objective of the EU is to increase recycling. By 2050, 80% of all plastic packaging materials are to be recyclable. Meanwhile, the oceans are turning into...

Using bioplastics for 3D printing – three questions for Olaf Diegel

Professor of Product Development at the Lund University Faculty of Engineering (LTH) What is the challenge, and advantage, of 3D printing with new biopolymers, that is, plastic material from renewable sources? “When printing in 3D, every material prints differently in terms of how the material shrinks when solidifying, how it...