Plastics and their controversies

Plastics are everywhere!  we take them for granted, they have helped to improve living standards, hygiene and nutrition around the world. Plastics serve positive functions in sectors as important as medicine (human tissues, organ transplants), transport (cars and ultralight aircraft), construction (insulation), food (smart packaging that monitors food content for signs of deterioration), etc. Plastics will keep playing an increasingly significant role in our lives in the future.
Despite the enormous potential of plastics, there are still concerns about its impact on the environment. Plastics are not enemies, on the contrary, they will be more and more the materials for all uses. This roundtable intends to discuss why, nowadays, the plastics have been demonized and to what extension the Plasticophobia impacts the consumption, the economy and, the artistic, architectural, ecological and social life.

We are looking for contributors for a potential roundtable on “Plastics and their Controversies” within the 47th ICOHTEC Symposium that will take place in Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, the Netherlands Eindhoven, from 13 to 18 July 2020.

If you are interested in debating this topic, you´re very welcome. Please contact Maria Elvira Callapez 
(PI, PhD History of Science and Technology CIUHCT-FCUL) by 21st February 2020.