Houston Daily

Some of Houston's prominent energy leaders will gather at the University of Houston for the Plastics Circularity Symposium, a free event hosted by UH Division of Energy and Innovation and the Energy Transition Institute. The symposium is scheduled for April 17 from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Houston Room of Student Center South.

The symposium will address the science, policy, and business aspects of plastics circularity, focusing on the challenge of plastic waste. Torkel Rhenman, executive vice president of advanced polymer solutions at LyondellBasell, a leading company in the global chemical industry, will deliver the keynote address. Rhenman stated, "Our mechanical and chemical recycling technologies aren’t just solving waste challenges – they’re creating solutions for a better tomorrow."

The event will include two topic sessions separated by a lunch keynote from Senami Akle, director and head of design for sustainability at Logitech. The first session will explore standards, policy, and business models in plastics circularity with speakers including Mary Ellen Ternes of Earth and Water Law LLC, Scott Trenor from the Association of Plastic Recyclers, Ganesh Nagarajan of WM, and Scott Coye-Huhn from SCS Global Services. Ternes emphasized the importance of sustainability for manufacturers and recyclers, stating, "This will also mitigate potential material risk from pollution, such as environmental and consumer product litigation, for which risk increases where sustainability fails."

The second session will focus on science, technology, and case studies in plastics circularity, featuring speakers such as Wei Cai from Technip Energies, Michelle E. Seitz of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Katrina Knauer of BOTTLE consortium at National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Kathryn Wright of Kraton.

The symposium will conclude with an expert panel moderated by Celeste Schurman of Houston Public Media, discussing the future of plastics circularity. Panelists will include Helmut Brenner from Shell Chemicals Ltd., Jace Tunnell of the Harte Research Institute, Meltem Urgun Demirtas from Argonne National Laboratory, and Andrew Oliver of The Dow Chemical Company. Brenner commented on Shell's efforts in circularity, stating, "Chemical recycling is a viable way to keep these valuable resources in circulation without sacrificing quality."