At Scale Podcast: Revitalizing Recycling

Recycling has not been the magical answer to the plastic waste problem. But new technologies and new materials might just change that. We talk to scientists who are developing new plastics, designers who are reimagining products for recyclability, and innovators who are out to redefine our relationship to plastic.

Hopes were high for consumer recycling, but in the end much of the plastic we put in the bin does not make make its way into new products. On this episode, host Audrey Chol talks with folks who are trying to change that reality.  Scientist Brett Helms, of the Berkley National Laboratory in California, is working at the cutting edge of new plastic technology; designer Christina Raab of the Cradle to Cradle Products innovation Institute is working to get companies to design recycling right into their products; and innovator Chris Krohn of Ideo is working on new ways for consumers and companies to think about their relationship with plastic products. All are trying to bring an additional level of circularity to the plastics economy.

Listen to more At Scale: A Sustainability Podcast episodes here.