St John's Island National Marine Laboratory

[Seminar] A Brief Introduction to Borneo Marine Research Institute and Coral Reef Research in Sabah
2019-10-19 15:00 - 2019-10-21 16:00 UTC | SJINML Seminar Room, Singapore, Singapore
A fireside chat with representatives from various industries
Supported by Ridge View Residential College and St John’s Island National Marine Laboratory

Of the 300 over million tonnes of plastics produced each year, less than 10 percent gets recycled. What happens to the rest? Some get sent to landfills where, when left to degrade, can leach harmful chemicals that spread into groundwater. Some are washed out through rivers into the oceans where they break down into microplastics that today is found in everything we eat and drink.
In Singapore, 7 out of 10 people do not know what plastics can be recycled and only about 6 percent of plastic waste end up being recycled. Can plastics-to-fuel technology (PTFT) be a potential pathway to resolving the plastic problem? Plastic-to-fuel technology is being increasingly hailed as a solution to the Southeast Asia plastic problem. But the pros and cons of using pyrolysis to convert plastic waste into high quality gasoline or diesel-like fuel are still highly debatable. This non-technical session will:

Introduce what PTFT is about;
Illustrate the workings of a PTFT project in Southeast Asia;
Be a discussion amongst representatives from Climate Change Strategy, Consulting, and Consumer Brands.

A networking tea session follows after the fireside chat – an excellent opportunity for the science and business to meet and exchange ideas!

About The Speakers :

Amita Shrestha Bäcker

GA Circular

Amita is a Business Development and Project Manager at GA Circular, a B Corporation certified research and strategy advisory firm that is driving circular economy in Asia. Together with the GA team, Amita has participated in materials-flow analysis, research, strategy and implementation projects on circular economy in this region. GA specialises in packaging and food waste in India and Southeast Asia and has worked with big multinational clients from consumer goods and packaging industries as well as government agencies.

Sharon Tan

Public Affairs and Communications, Coca-Cola Singapore & Malaysia

Sharon is the Public Affairs and Communications Manager for The Coca-Cola Company in Singapore and Malaysia. She is charged with ensuring that Coca-Cola’s dialogues with stakeholders in both countries are effective and consistent. Prior to this job, Sharon was at Burson-Marstellar, a leading global PR and Communications firm. Specialised in government relations, management issues and stakeholder engagement for a wide range of clients such as MNCs and NGOs. Sharon also served multiple roles in Singapore public service, including MTI and MAS.

Associate Professor Tong Yen Wah

Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore

A/P Tong is the co-programme director for an NRF-CREATE project with Shanghai Jiao Tong University on “Energy and Environmental Sustainability Solutions for Megacities’; E2S2-CREATE. His expertise is in bio-materials research for tissue engineering and in bioenergy from food wastes and biomass wastes, with over 120 publications and 5,000 citations. His recent works in food waste management has been successfully commercialised with distributed anaerobic digesters that can be effectively used in cities through a spin-off company from NUS.

About The Moderator :

Marc Allen

Engeco

Marc is the Technical Director and Founder of engeco. He is a chemical engineer with over 20 years’ experience and 12 years specialised in energy and climate change. Raised in Australia, he has been in Singapore for the last two years. His company, engeco, helps businesses understand their exposure to climate change risk and helps them develop and implement climate change strategy. He is also working to develop global standards in the area of circular economy as part of the ISO Technical Committee for Circular Economy.

[Fireside Chat] Can Plastics to Fuel Technology Resolve the Plastic Waste Problem?
2019-10-21 15:30 - 17:30 (Asia/Shanghai) | Multi-Purpose Room 1, Ridge View Residential College, National University of Singapore, 25 Lower Kent Ridge Road, #02-61, Singapore, Singapore, 119081, Singapore
