Recycling von Kunststoffen – Notwendigkeit und Herausforderung

Without a doubt, we are living in the "Plastic Age" today! Currently, about 400 million tons of plastics are produced annually, but only a small portion of that is reused. Plastics are fantastic materials that find applications in all areas of our modern life, from healthcare to packaging, and thus make our lives as we live them today largely possible. However, the flexibility with which materials can be tailored for each specific application also complicates their reuse. Thus, less than 10% of municipal plastic waste in the USA is recycled, meaning that most of it is incinerated or stored in landfills. The recovery of resources (recycling) is gaining increasing importance. However, further guidelines, strategies, and frameworks need to be established to accelerate the transition to a closed material loop.

In this lecture, various aspects of plastic recycling will be discussed, from the necessary pre-treatment of waste to the various possible recycling strategies.

Speaker: Univ.-Prof. DI Dr. Christian Paulik, Institute of Chemical Technology of Organic Materials, Johannes Kepler University Linz

Univ. Prof. DI Dr. Christian Paulik is the head of the Institute of Chemical Technology of Organic Materials at Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria. He earned his master's and PhD in Technical Chemistry at Johannes Kepler University Linz in the field of Polymer Sciences.
In 1995, he began his career at Borealis, a leading company in the field of polyolefins, in the central research and development department. After various positions in Borealis' global research and development organization, he returned to academia in 2010 and accepted the offer from Johannes Kepler University. In his current research, Prof. Paulik focuses on the polymerization and structure-property relationships of polyolefins and specialty polymers, e.g., melamine-based materials and antimicrobial polymers, 3D printing of polymers, and high-pressure biotechnology. He is also active in the field of polymer additives and bio-based resources.