Authors: Esko Hakanena, Jan Holmströma, Teemu Mikolaa, Kirsi Immonenb, Jukka Niskanenc, Hannu Ilvesniemid, Corinna Casie, Kirsi Kukkof, Jouni Partanenf Plastics are often portrayed as a problem when tackling climate change. Plastic products made from fossil raw materials also deplete non-renewable resources. Moreover, plastics are commonly incinerated at the end of their life, to avoid microplastics …
Author: Teemu Mikola In recent years, the environmental problems related to plastic materials have been gaining increasing attention. Although plastic materials deliver many benefits, such as durability, light weight, and low cost, they depend on fossil resources and create emissions and harmful waste in many stages of their value chain. To address these challenges, the …
Authors: Jukka Seppälä & Arun Teotia (Aalto University) and Katri Valkokari (VTT) European Commission has published a policy framework for biobased, biodegradable and compostable plastics on 30.11.2022. Here the authors aim to share our elaboration on essential key statements and conclusions related to the EU framework. COM(2022) 682 final (1) In Europe and internationally, biobased, …
Katri Valkokari The researchers of the ValueBioMat project are eager to find new ways to disseminate the research results in order to actively support the transition towards more sustainable plastic ecosystems. A good example of this work is the Talking Plastics podcast hosted by our researchers. Listening to the podcast series, it is nice to …
Author: Corinna Casi The beginning of a new journey: The ValueBioMat project Two years and half have passed since the beginning of the ValueBioMat (VBM) project funded by the Strategic Research Council of the Academy of Finland. Since then, my role as Doctoral researcher has evolved immensely: I got more and more responsibilities internally within …
Author: Anna Leinonen/ VTT How can research fulfil such challenging purposes as creating great societal impact or developing solutions to extremely complex and systemic grand challenges? Moreover, what are the implications of such aspirations to the understanding of the researcher’s role, if innovation and high-quality research are not the only expectations of research output? Above …
Research for societal impact – What does it mean to researchers? Read More »
Exploring Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) brand owner strategies for a sustainable plastics economy Authors: Pyry Päivölä & Jaakko Siltaloppi (Aalto) Today, approximately 25% of all plastics produced are used in packaging, which amounts to a nearly 100 million tonnes annually. The majority of plastics packaging is used in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry. …
Incremental actions for transformative outcomes? Read More »
Systeeminen muutos kohti muovin kestävää valmistusta ja käyttöä edellyttää uudentyyppisten materiaaliratkaisujen kehittämistä sekä arvoverkoston roolien uudistamista. Uusien ratkaisujen syntymistä voidaan tukea varmistamalla, että yhteiskunnallinen ja taloudellinen ohjaus tukevat toinen toisiaan. Systeemisiä ongelmia ratkaistaan kokeilemalla, vuorovaikutuksella ja epävarmuutta paremmin ymmärtämällä, siksi tarvitaan ekosysteemitason tarkastelua muutoksen ajureista. ValueBioMat projektin tutkijat Jaakko Siltaloppi Aalto-yliopistosta ja Markus Jähi VTT:ltä …
Authors: Jukka Seppälä, Aalto & Katri Valkokari, VTT Circularity of plastics is by definition a systemic challenge that requires dialogue between multidisciplinary experts in order to build solutions and understand development paths. Our research webinar covered the topic through three complementary thematic sessions. The first session started by looking at the challenge from the big …
Circularity of Plastics: experts’ dialogue on sustainable innovations Read More »
Authors: Katri Valkokari , Peter Ylen (VTT) & Rosa Ballardini and Juha Vesala (University of Lapland) A transition towards renewable and circular plastic ecosystems is a systemic challenge. In this regard, there is an obvious need to find the appropriate bundle of policy measures, incentives and regulation instruments to enhance the transition to a sustainable and …
Identifying policy-level instruments required for a more sustainable plastic future Read More »