PhD project SUR-PLAS-Path

A transition in the world of plastics is of priority and urgency, given the fact that plastic production accounts for ~10% of all fossil resources. In addition, about 20% of all plastics leak into the environment, posing serious threats to nature and health. Current initiatives often fail to facilitate the plastic transition due to the lack of understanding and incorporation of various social-economic, ecological or technical transition enablers and barriers. The transition is influenced by various policies, directives, behaviours and stakeholders. It is therefore essential to understand how this system currently works, how it could ideally operate in 2050, and how the transition to this ideal plastic system could be accomplished with maximum stakeholder acceptance.

The aim of the project is to co-create SUstainable & Renewable PLAStic transition PATHways with stakeholders via developing and applying a novel transition design and multi-impact assessment approach (SUR-PLAS-Path). It aims to identify what plastic transitions will look like, including all crucial interventions and barriers, to deliver successful transition pathways for our society. The exemplary open-access methodology will be extendable to other materials flows to foster the realisation of the circular economy. For the research, an integrated analysis of the current Dutch plastic system will be performed, and the societal ambitions will be identified and analyzed. The ‘Butterfly Framework’, developed by Bos, De Haas and Jongschaap (2022), will be used as the basis to study the plastic system and its transitions. The conceivable best answers for this will be found by bringing stakeholders together and connecting them to co-create the ‘optimal’ transition pathway scenario, based on real-world cases and the latest scientific and technological insights.