Are there ways that we can find a way to live with plastic in the future so that it reduces environmental harm and can help us live more sustainably?

These are just some of the issues that were discussed at a Talk 200 event: The Unmaking of Everything, hosted by The University of Manchester held at RIBA, attended by our CEO Jo Farquharson (an alumni). Talk 200 is a series of lectures and podcasts to celebrate the University’s bicentenary.

On the panel were Michael Shaver, Professor of Polymer Science and Director of Sustainable Futures at The University of Manchester as well as Helen Holmes, Rosa Cuellar-Franca and Ciaran Lahive.

Together they talked about what the future holds for plastic. They discussed the potential unintended consequences of creating an alternative product that could be worse for the environment, and the importance of assessing the lifecycle of a product so that the end of the life of a product is considered in the design process of the product.

What are we left with?

Perhaps we need to look at plastic in a new light. Maybe not all plastic is bad, for example, it has helped to transform the shelf life for many of our foods, and when used and disposed of in the right way, it could be part of the solution for a world in which we all live more sustainably.