The Annual Plastics and Waste Conference organised by the Australia-New Zealand Section of the Society of Plastics Engineers will be run as a series of webinars under the title of “Plastics and the Circular Economy – The Virtual Edition” and will feature close to 20 presentations. The Conference will have 4 separate sessions during the week from Monday 15th to Friday 19th November 2021.

The first Session will be on Monday evening 15th November and will feature 6 speakers mainly from Europe including an update by Garance Boullenger from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the latest news on plastics recycling technology from Nextek by Professor Edward Kosior.

The second Session will be on Tuesday morning 16th November with 6 speakers. This morning Session will commence with a Keynote address by the CEO of APCO, Brooke Donnelly, and will include a presentation by the CEO of Plastic Oceans, Ricki Hersburgh. As for last year we have invited the Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management, The Hon. Trevor Evans MP, to update the audience on the plans of the Federal Government. 

The third Session will be on Wednesday morning 17th November with 5 speakers and will focus on advances in the recycling of plastics and investments by the recycling industry in Australia. This Session will also include Jenny Brown and Mike Turner from Envorinex and Rowan Williams from the Australasian Bioplastics Association as well as Bill Verhagen from Green Angels on The Circular Economy and Education.

The fourth Session will be on Friday morning 19th November and will feature at least 4 speakers from the USA including Steve Alexander, the CEO of the Association of Plastics Recyclers, and the global President of the Society of Plastics Engineers, Dr Jason Lyons.

COVID-19 has created new challenges for our industry and has not made it easier to collaborate with new and existing partners in the supply chain. This Conference will show that despite these barriers the speed in transferring to a Circular Economy is increasing, so we hope that it will encourage you to contribute and be a part of this Conference.

For the complete program please visit the Conference Website.

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Program:

Monday evening 15th November from 6:00 pm to 9:35 pm

Global initiatives Europe and technology

Moderator, Han Michel, President, SPE: A-NZ Section

“Realising a demand-driven circular economy for flexible packaging”

Graham Houlder, Managing Director, Ceflex Europe, The Netherlands

“What does the future look like for polymers”,

Professor Edward Kosior,CEO Nextek, UK and Australia

“Manufacturing high quality recycled polymers”,

Starlinger, Austria - invited

“Update on plastics recycling in Europe”,

Ton Emans, President, Plastics Recyclers Europe, Belgium

“The Plastics Pact and EPR”,

Garance Boullenger, Project Manager, Plastics Pact, The New Plastics Economy, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, UK

“Sustainability at BASF”, 

Germany, invited

Tuesday morning 16th November from 9:30 am to 12:45 pm

State of play Australia

Moderator, Kevin Thomson, Chair Corporate Affairs, SPE: A-NZ Section

“Government’s perspective on plastics recycling”

Federal Government – The Hon. Trevor Evans MP – Assistant Minister, Waste Reduction and Environmental Management, Canberra, invited

“The Roadmap to increased recycled content – status”,

Brooke Donnelly,CEO Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation, Sydney

“Another perspective on plastics in oceans”,

Ricki Hersburgh,CEO, Plastic Oceans, Melbourne

“Industry specifications for recycled polymers”,

Rose Read, CEO, NWRIC invited

“Enabling design for environmental good”,

Common purpose collective – RMIT Consortium, Arcadis, One Planet Consulting, Helen Millicer – consortium partner

Wednesday morning 17th November from 9.30 am to 1.15 pm

Activities Australia

Moderator, Russell Speight, Sustainability Chair, SPE: ANZ Section

“Circularity and innovations in flexible packaging”,

Richard Smith, Director of Sustainability Asia Pacific,  AMCOR, Melbourne

“Pathways to developing circular models for food contact packaging”,

Alan Adams, Sustainability Director APAC, Sealed Air Asia-Pacific, Melbourne

“Leading from the front on plastics recycling in Australia”,

Jenny Brown, Managing Director and Mike Turner,  International Director, Envorinex, George Town, TAS and Toowoomba, QLD

“The Circular Economy and Education”,

Bill Verhagen, Managing Director, Green Angels, Melbourne

“Biodegradable plastics”,

Rowan Williams, CEO, Australian Bioplastics Association, Melbourne

“Update on recycling infrastructure plans”,

Andrew Smith, Executive General Manager Sustainability Services , PACT Group, Melbourne - invited

Friday morning 19th November from 8.30 am to 11.15 am

Americas

Moderator, Craig Benson, Councillor SPE: ANZ Section

“How guidelines support the plastics recycling industry”,

Steve Alexander, CEO, Association Plastic Recyclers, USA

“New developments in the Americas”,

Conor Carlin, VP Sustainability, USA

“Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation”,

Maine, USA - TBN

“Redefining membership value in the 21st Century”,

Dr Jason Lyons, President Society of Plastics Engineers, USA

For more information on the program, please contact: Han Michel, mobile 0416 168 255, email: hanmichel@bigpond.com

General remarks

The SPE: A-NZ Section retains the right to alter and/or substitute components to the event or program as deemed appropriate. Information which we supply in relation to the event is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of providing this information.