In this episode, we will discuss the present state and future of the plastics economy, and what is needed to transition toward more sustainable modes of production and consumption.Today, we produce around 400 million tons of plastic every year. The absolute majority of this is produced from fossil raw materials. Furthermore, despite recent progress in recycling plastic waste, particularly in the EU, most of plastic waste still ends up in landfills or leaks into natural environments. Thus, we urgently need solutions to reduce the environmental impact of plastics, and pave way for a future that is both economically and environmentally sustainable.The episode begins with a discussion on the environmental impacts of plastics. We then explore the solutions needed to mitigate these issues, with emphasis on improving the recycling of plastic waste and shifting to the use of bio-based raw materials in the production of primary plastics. We also discuss the actors who play a critical role in transitioning toward a sustainable plastics economy, and touch on the challenges that start-up companies face in bringing new and more sustainable plastics solutions to the market.We will explore these issues, and possible solutions, with TOMI NYMAN. Tomi has a background in chemical engineering, and has worked with several cutting-edge solutions in improving the sustainability of plastics production throughout his career. Tomi was involved in the development of renewable products at Neste, and was one of the main architects in developing Neste’s bioplastics business. Since then, Tomi has worked as a consultant, advisor, and board member in several ventures related to sustainable plastics, and is the founder and CEO of November consulting, which aims to reduce global CO2 emissions by 1 Gt.The episode is hosted by JAAKKO SILTALOPPI. Jaakko is a post-doctoral researcher at Aalto University, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management. Jaakko has worked with several questions linked to sustainable business and innovation. In the ValueBioMat project, Jaakko’s research focuses on the analysis of sustainable business models and system-level transitions toward more sustainable plastics economy.Talking Plastics podcast is brought to you by Valuebiomat, to be found as @valuebiomat on twitter, valuebiomat on youtube, and on valuebiomat.fi. Valuebiomat is funded by the Strategic research Council (SRC) established within the Academy of Finland. You can find the Talking Podcast in Twitter as @TalkingPlastics, and contact us at [email protected].

In this episode produced by the team at University of Lapland, led by Rosa-Maria Ballardini, we discuss current legal challenges related to plastics with two guests: Dr. Anna Haapanen, partner and Head of Technology at Dittmar & Indrenius Attorneys and Associate Oskari Paasikivi also at Dittmar & Indrenius. Anna and Oskari advise clients on a broad variety of assignments concerning new technologies and related regulatory and intellectual property issues and have recent experience on advising their clients on the development, production and marketing of biobased plastics and other solutions in the circular economy. In this episode, they shed light from the legal perspective on some of these challenges, potential solutions and difficulties that remain. In particular, we discuss what plastics are understood to be in legislation pertaining to plastics (e.g. the Single-Use Plastics Directive), how the obligations imposed in this legislation can be managed in complex supply chains and what kinds of intellectual property issues arise in this context and how they can be solved.GUESTS AND CONTRIBUTORSJUHA VESALA is university lecturer at the University of Lapland. In the Valubiomat project, he focuses on sustainability issues in the fields of competition law and intellectual property, particularly those concerning circular plastics ecosystems.ANNA HAAPANEN is Partner and Head of Technology at Dittmar & Indrenius, and advices clients with a broad range of technology intensive intellectual property right matters, with a particular focus on complex IP related agreements and commercial arrangements, including technology transactions and regulatory aspects of new technologies.OSKARI PAASIKIVI is an Associate at Dittmar & Indrenius and advises clients in questions surrounding data protection, technology as well as consumer and marketing law, as well as various regulatory issues surrounding innovative products. He also has experience in the field of M&A, with a particular focus on technology focused transactions.For a further take on European plastics legislation, you can find Anna and Oskari’s recent article ‘Summer ’21 marks the beginning of the end for single-use plastics in Europe’ on Dittmar & Indrenius' website at https://www.dittmar.fi/insight/summer-21-marks-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-single-use-plastics-in-europe/ROSA MARIA BALLARDINI is professor of intellectual property law at the University of Lapland. She leads the team that is focussing on fostering resource wisdom though legislative and policy actions.The Talking Plastics Podcast is brought to you by Valuebiomat, to be found as @valuebiomat on Twitter, Valuebiomat on Youtube and on valuebiomat.fi. Valuebiomat is funded by the Strategic research Council (SRC) established within the Academy of Finland. You can find the podcast at @TalkingPlastics on Twitter and can contact us at [email protected].

In this episode we introduce the Valuebiomat project. The project is divided into 6 teams (sometimes referred to as work package in the podcast, as this is the technical term used in the project) and we hear one person from each team explain what it is their team does in the project.Our guests this episode:Jukka Seppälä is professor Polymer Technology at Aalto University in Finland. Jukka and his group have several decades of experience in research related to synthesis and characterization of novel (bio)polymers. Jukka is the Principal Investigator of the project and also leads the team investigating bio-based and CO2 capturing Polymers for 3D Printing.Siddharth Jayaprakash is a doctoral candidate in the Advanced Manufacturing and Materials group at Aalto university in Finland. There he focusses on topics such as additive manufacturing and sustainable innovation. This team takes the biomaterials and uses innovative 3D printing technologies to turn them into products.Hannu Ilvesniemi is professor at Luke, the Natural Resources Institute Finland. He has expertise in, among other things, forestry and environmental quality, ecosystem nutrient cycles, chemical characterization of biomass. His team focusses on Environmental and societal impact assessment using a holistic life cycle approach.Jan Holmström is professor of operations management at Aalto University. In addition, he is an expert in supply chain management and design science research. Jan leads the team investigating transforming the plastics ecosystem through new business models. These new business models should take the novel bio-based plastics from lab to market.Rosa Maria Ballardini is professor of intellectual property law at the university of Lapland. She leads the team that is focussing on fostering resource wisdom though legislative and policy actions. The team wants to identify missing or ill-defined regulatory frameworks (with regards to the valuebiomat value chain) and propose more workable solutions.Katri Valkokari is research manager at VTT Technical research Centre of Finland, and Katri leads the team responsible for interaction within the Valuebiomat project. In addition, she is also the projects communication manager. Her team works on coordinating interaction between all the teams and uses modelling that integrate all the outcomes into a joint vision and scope.The Talking Plastics Podcast is brought to you by Valuebiomat, to be found as @valuebiomat on twitter, Valuebiomat on youtube and on valiebiomat.fi. Valuebiomat is funded by the Strategic research Council (SRC) established within the Academy of Finland. You can find the podcast at @TalkingPlastics on twitter and can contact us at [email protected].

As we are working very hard on making the first episodes of the talking plastics podcast, here is a short teaser where hosts Jaakko, Corinna and Bas explain what to expect.The Talking Plastics podcast is brought to you by Valuebiomat, to be found as @valuebiomat on twitter, valuebiomat on youtube and on valuebiomat.fi. Valuebiomat is funded by the Strategic Research Council (SRC) established within the Academy of Finland. You can find US at @TalkingPlastics on twitter and can contact us at [email protected].