PolyTalk'11: Reinventing the way we work
PolyTalk’11, a major industry summit, gathered over 230 participants from the plastics industry, the retailers, brand-owners, policy-makers and media to discuss burning issues such as "Green Economy" and "Sustainability Agendas".
The summit hosted seminars and workshops on media, advocacy and nano-materials. PlasticsEurope General Assembly was also organised during PolyTalk'11 where Patrick Thomas, CEO of Bayer MaterialSciences, has been elected as president of PlasticsEurope. The General Assembly members equally endorsed the election of Paul Augustowski, CEO and President of BASELL ORLEN POLYOLEFINS, Carl van Camp Senior Vice-President Head of Polyolefins Division TOTAL PETROCHEMICALS and Tom Crotty, Director, Ineos Group INEOS Capital , as vice presidents.
PolyTalk'11, which was labelled by the European Commission, DG Environment as a Green Week Satellite event, was hosted in an exclusive and impressive venue to facilitate networking in a nice and relaxed environment. PolyTalk'11 welcomed high profile guests such as best-selling author John Elkington or UN Sustainability Expert Haroldo Mattos de Lemos.
Videos
(click on the title to watch the video)
Panel Discussion 1: Is 'Green' becoming the key economic driver?
Introduced by a video message from Commissioner Janez Potocnik, the first panel insisted on how, in 2011, less than 2% of the world’s energy supply is derived from ‘renewables’. Panelists noted that important actions are needed to reach the target of 20% renewable energy set by the European Commission for 2020. These actions should encompass responsibility sharing and a better communication towards the broader public.
Panel Discussion 2: The Sustainability Agenda: Where are we?
This panel looked more closely at the role plastics can play in driving sustainable development. It also debated how to enhance further the environmental performance of polymers from a life cycle perspective across different applications, and stressed that the plastics industry has to create synergies, provide answers, communicate and implement measures dealing with the challenging sustainability issues faced by our society.