April Event to Coincide with the Large Chinaplas Trade Show, Bringing Together Leaders of Industry to Explore Opportunities in the Circular Economy for Plastic and Waste Reduction

The Plasticity Forum announces its fifth annual conference will be held on April 27 in Shanghai, China. This follows the decision last November by the China Petroleum & Chemical Industry Federation (CPCIF) to join the World Plastics Council. The forum – to be held at the Andaz Xintiandi, Shanghai – focuses on the future of plastic, and where opportunities can be created with resource recovery, job creation and waste reduction. It will be held the same week as Chinaplas 2016, the world’s second-largest trade show, takes place in Shanghai, where some of the world’s largest plastic producers will be present. Plasticity’s theme this year focuses on “Material Solutions for Undervalued Resources.”

The Plasticity Forum gathers leading experts, including innovators, entrepreneurs, industry leaders, brand managers, educators, think tanks, government agencies, designers and investors to share key learnings, experience and strategies around the use and recovery of plastic. This year’s forum will include the latest developments in waste as a resource, scalable innovations in plastic that save money, use of new materials, designing for sustainability, and solutions for a world where plastic is used, but without the footprint.

According to Doug Woodring, founder of Plasticity, “Plastic is a valuable resource, but the current processes within many of our communities do not allow optimized resource recovery. Companies are now realizing that environmental sustainability has a positive impact not only on the communities they serve, but also on their own bottom line. Managing the plastic ecosystem through recycling, reuse and closed-loop methods can create jobs, save money, improve brand value and create efficiency in corporate supply chains.”

The Plasticity Forum was formed to address the global growing plastic waste issue, and brings together experts from all across the spectrum of plastic use, production, design and reuse in a positive and productive environment, which is needed to collectively create solutions that companies and governments can use in all types of circumstances and societies. The event talks about what technologies and processes are available today, or which are just on the horizon, and which can be readily adopted by companies to gain a leading edge in their business operations. 

Dr. Mike Biddle, clean-tech entrepreneur, founder and board member of MBA Polymers, will be one of the featured speakers.  He has won the 2012 Gothenburg Sustainability Prize, Economist Innovation Award, World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer, World Technology Network Award and many others. Other winners of these awards include Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Al Gore, Gro Harlem Brundtland and Kofi Annan.  Kim Sui, the General Manager of Marketing for A.S. Watsons will also be presenting.  He was responsible for the exciting shift from zero to 100% recycled PET material for Watsons Water bottles in Hong Kong in 2015, the first company in Asia to make such a move, saving 75,000,000 bottles from the waste stream as a result.  The complete list of speakers and the full agenda will be announced shortly and information will be available on the Plasticity Forum website at www.plasticityforum.com.

As an added feature to this year’s program, Plasticity is offering participants the chance to join a half-day design workshop on April 28 in central Shanghai called “Products & Packaging – Designing Sustainably.” Partners in this event will be Successful Design Organization, CBi China Bridge, Green Initiatives, and Ruder Finn Public Relations – all thought leaders in their respective spaces. Prior to the conference, participants will also be able to tour Chinaplas 2016 as part of the knowledge building related to the Plasticity Forum on the 27th.

About Plasticity Forum

The Plasticity Forum is a cross section of thinkers, solution providers, brands, users and those who appreciate scale to expedite the solutions and innovations that exist today to keep plastic from becoming a problem for our communities and environment. Plasticity offers a global discussion and perspective on solutions, how to standardize across products or industries, and how to bring about new opportunities in production and recovery operations. For more information, visit www.plasticityforum.com.

About Ocean Recovery Alliance

Ocean Recovery Alliance brings together new ways of thinking, technologies, creativity and collaborations in order to introduce innovative projects and initiatives that help to improve our ocean environment. It has two projects with the Clinton Global Initiative focused on the reduction of plastic pollution, and is one of the only NGOs in the world to be working with both the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank’s Global Partnership for Oceans. It is the founder of the Plasticity Forum, originally launched at the Rio+20 Earth Summit, and is an advisor for The Economist’s World Ocean Summit. For more information, visit www.oceanrecov.org.