Day One – 30 Sep 08

Sustainability and the Environment

11.00 – 11.30 – Opening Address & PVC: Sustainability – The Facts and Myths, Stuart Patrick, Chairman of The Polymer Society

11.45 – 12.15 – Energy Management in Plastics Processing, Dr Robin Kent, Managing Director, Tangram Technology Ltd

12.30 – 13.00 – Plastics Processing: The Primary & Practical Aspects of Improving Energy Efficiency, Fred Pratt, Energy Division, CCS Technology 

14.00 – 14.30 – How the Carbon Trust can Help Your Business, Graeme Precious, Account Manager, The Carbon Trust 

14.45 – 15.15 – Can Technology Save Us? The Challenges Faced in the Production of Our Sustainable and Environmentally Friendly Society, Dr Paul Sherratt, Practice Leader, Recycling Division, The UK Health and Environment Research Institute (HERI) part of Pera Innovation Network, in association with UK MatRI  

15.30 – 16.00 – Building a Sustainable Future with Polymers, Philip Robinson, Commercial Director / Head of Regional Market Development - Northern Europe, BASF - The Chemical Company  

Day Two – 1 Oct 08

Design & Innovation with Polymers 

11.00 – 11.30 - Snowflex: The Premier Snowsports Surface, Terry Di Stasi, Director of Business Development, Briton Engineering Developments Ltd 

11.45 – 12.15 - Processing of Polymer Biocomposites for Orthopaedic Applications, Dr Mike Martyn, RCUK Fellow in Polymer Engineering, Bradford University 

12.30 – 13.00 – Process Development for a Novel Dental Root Filling Device, Dr Ben Whiteside, Technical Manager, Micro and Nano Moulding, Bradford University 

13.15 – 13.45 – Plastics and Design Innovation, Geoff Hollington, Design Mentor, Materials and Design Exchange (MADE) and an independent product designer

This talk will focus on what plastics mean to designers and where advances in manufacturing and materials might take that.

14.00 – 14.30 - Upcycling and New Technologies, Kate Goldsworthy, Designer, Chelsea College of Art (part of the University of the Arts London)

14.45 - 15.15 - TBC      

15.30 – 16.00 - TBC

Day Three – 2 Oct 08

The Past, Present & Future of Plastics

11.00 – 11.30 – Plastics Through the Ages

11.45 – 12.15 – ‘The Shape of Plastics’ (1962) 

Made by the BPF to celebrate 100 years of Parkesine and the winner of the Bilboa Film Festival and the official British Entry at the Moscow film festival in 1963. This recently unearthed classic will be shown for the first time in over 40 years! 

12.30 – 13.00 – Future Issues for the Plastics Industry

• Environmental and regulatory developments
• The impact of corporate social responsibility and green procurement
• Raw materials and energy issues

14.00 – 14.30 – Future Advances in Plastic Materials

• The evolving position of plastics in the family of materials
• Leading edge developments in the world of polymers
• The new opportunities to be exploited through materials developments

14.45 – 15.15 – 20-20 Vision: The Will for Skill

• The changing complexion of the UK plastics industries workforce
• The changing skills requirements of an employee
• The UK skills pool: finding and training the right people
• Providing attractive career pathways in the UK plastics industry