In the debate on plastics, the concept of sustainability struggles to find space, yet polymeric materials play an important role in our ecological transition.

“Think of electric cars or photovoltaic panels,” begins Marzio Sorlini, associate professor of Industrial Process Sustainability at the Department of Innovative Technologies. "They are largely made of polymeric materials. Plastics are extremely high-performance: taking the example of the car again, we could manufacture one entirely out of metal, but it would consume much more during its life cycle. A polymer component weighs on average one-fifth of a metal one."

Concern for environmental impact did not come out of nowhere and, as Professor Andrea Castrovinci has already pointed out, until a few decades ago, little attention was paid to the end-of-life management of these materials.

“Plastics are everywhere and are extremely useful. Demonizing them would be the wrong approach. That said, there is room for improvement. When we no longer need them, we can collect them in an intelligent way. We can design plastic products that are easily reusable or distinguishable. We can adopt a vision that goes beyond their first life cycle, involving designers, manufacturers, and consumers.”

"The plastics industry is moving in many directions, rethinking or redesigning materials to make them as functional as possible for specific applications and optimizing production processes with a view to saving energy. It must be said, however, that the production process is not necessarily the one with the greatest environmental impact. In terms of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), we can also focus on the product use and end-of-life management phases."

"For our part, with the Laboratoty of Sustainable Production Systems, we are involved in a Flagship project funded by Innosuisse, divided into several sub-projects that aim to improve the sustainability profile of polymeric materials. There are experts studying the development of new polymers, evaluating new compounds with recycled materials. Software is being developed to determine the percentage of recycled material that can be introduced into a compound without compromising its performance. Or traceability tools that allow a product that has reached the end of its life to be reused with the highest added value. Finally, we are working on optimizing machinery, developing new production processes aimed at reducing emissions and environmental impact in the initial phase of a product's life."

Let's start from the beginning. What can be done to rethink plastic products?

“In design, eco-design often requires a reduction in the ingredients that make up a polymer, thus limiting the number of combined materials and additives. Sometimes, in order to assign certain functions, it is necessary to introduce components that risk inhibiting or reducing the possibilities of recovery. Design that is not limited to functionality in the first life cycle of the product but considers a second or third life is therefore essential.”

What about production processes?

"Operating temperatures can be optimized, maintaining the functional performance of the object unchanged, but consuming less energy during production. There is the issue of the fraction of waste material that cannot be reused. Today, when designing or redesigning machinery, opportunities to limit this waste or reuse it for other applications are taken into account. In addition, there is software that can identify the most suitable technologies with the lowest environmental impact for manufacturing a finished product."

From your observatory, which is in contact not only with research but also with companies, how widespread is awareness of change?

“Attention to environmental performance is now widespread, and the efforts of companies and research centers are multiplying. But the complexity of the issue requires integrated solutions based on reliable data. Real progress comes from creating an ecosystem of technical, scientific, and industrial expertise, all geared toward the same goal: minimizing the impact of plastics at different stages of their life cycle.”