Carbon-negative bioplastics for a climate-positive future | Jan-Georg Rosenboom | TEDxMIT

Plastics largely enable modern life but they are associated with two problems: environmental pollution and climate change. What if we could make these everyday materials without carbon emissions, and even remove CO2 from the atmosphere by doing so? And where do biodegradation and recycling fit into the scheme of a decarbonized, circular economy? In this talk, Jan-Georg Rosenboom discusses the concepts of carbon-negativity and circularity of bioplastics (bio-based plastics). How these materials can contribute to sustainability, and what challenges lie ahead, has been reviewed by the speaker recently in Nature Reviews Materials (www.nature.com/articles/s4157....
Jan-Georg is a Chemical Engineer with a focus on designing polymers for people and the planet. As postdoc in the Langer and Traverso Labs at MIT and BWH/HMS, he uses polymer chemistry to advance sustainable plastic technologies and create novel drug delivery devices against a variety of diseases. Besides, he works with the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium (MCSC) and is a plastics sustainability consultant for several major companies. Prior to his work at MIT, Jan-Georg did a PhD at ETH Zurich under the theme “Lord of the Renewable Rings”, where he synthesized PEF, a bioplastic similar to PET, from cyclic ring-molecules. He also co-founded EquipSent, a social startup that organizes lab equipment transfers to low-income countries with the aim to "Enable Education Everywhere". This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@javierviana8662]

This is an amazing talk. He explained very well the problem we are facing with plastics in modern society. This is a must watch video. I know for a fact thar his effort and research will be instrumental in the future.

[@gwho]

I like the way this guy thinks

[@paulwilliamson2882]

The public will slowly come to realise how huge corporations are making loads of money from carbon trading at the expense of the rest of us.

[@paulwilliamson2882]

This is from AI chatbot. Many ecological systems, including plants and algae, rely on carbon dioxide (CO2) to survive and perform photosynthesis, which is the process by which they convert CO2 and sunlight into energy in the form of sugar. This process also generates oxygen as a byproduct, which is essential for the survival of animals and other organisms that breathe oxygen. Additionally, CO2 plays a key role in regulating the Earth's climate, as it acts as a greenhouse gas, trapping heat from the sun and keeping the planet warm enough to support life. Without CO2, Earth's surface would be too cold for most forms of life to survive.

[@sajithomas2158]

Plastic is the worst invention ever

[@gwho]

No.
Pollution management just lags and hasn't been part of the equation or incentives. It hasn't been brought into the pricing. It's an externality. Need to make it not an externality, then the market forces accounts for it.