The recipient of the CIB Sebestyén Future Leaders Award 2025 is hosting a workshop on circular plastics. Politecnico di Milano’s winning project aims to enhance knowledge and skills through hosting workshops on ‘From Waste to Worth: Design Strategies for Circular Plastic Materials‘.
Workshop overview
This seminar is the first of two parts of From Waste to Worth: Design Strategies for Circular Plastic Materials, designed to introduce students, researchers, and professionals to the potential of making with plastic waste.
MODULE 1 consists of two online sessions featuring international experts from recycling and innovative construction, complemented by academic contributions. The seminars are delivered entirely in English and include interactive polls and questionnaires, Q&A sessions, and roundtables.
SESSION 1:
Plastic materials and plastic waste — Webinar
Date: 14 October 2025
Time: 16:00 CEST • Duration: 2 h 30 min •
Topics: introduction to the market, typologies, and sustainability challenges of plastics; use of the Ansys Granta materials database to explore properties and sustainability potential; analysis with Plastics Europe data of supply chains, end-of-life scenarios, and key hurdles to advancing circular plastic strategies.
SESSION 2:
Design and fabrication strategies for plastic waste — Expert panel
Date: 15 October 2025
Time: 16:00 CEST • Duration: 3 h 00 min •
Topics: techniques and machinery for shaping/processing plastics and plastic waste: from large-scale industrial production to portable, small-scale equipment, concluding with cutting-edge research projects on design and manufacturing with plastic waste.
Educational project
- Understand the fundamentals of the plastics value chain and waste management, including polymer types, market context, and sustainability challenges.
- Use data tools (Ansys Granta; Plastics Europe datasets) to analyze polymer properties, sustainability potential, supply chains, and end-of-life scenarios.
- Identify suitable polymers and transformation technologies to design building components from waste materials.
- Gain familiarity with techniques, machinery, and case studies for designing and manufacturing with plastic waste—from industrial scale to small, portable setups.
- Build critical thinking and interdisciplinary skills through polls, Q&A, and roundtable discussions.
Requirements
No technical prerequisites. Good knowledge of English language is necessary to actively participate to the workshop, that will be entirely in english.
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