Prague, 15 May 2019 - This year, Unipetrol is once again the general partner of the nationwide Innovation Week festival, taking place from May 20-26. For Innovation Week visitors, Unipetrol has prepared a virtual tour of Polymer Smart City, a fueling station of the future exhibit and a panel discussion about circular economy.
This innovation expo, which will also feature international conferences and expert-led seminars, is the main event of the year in the innovations sector in Czech Republic. Among key speakers will be researcher at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry at the Academy of Sciences Czech Republic and Unipetrol brand ambassador, Dr. Michael G.S. Londesborough B.Sc Hons Ph.D, who will moderate the panel discussion on Circular Economy and whose presentation will focus on the role of plastics in today’s world. “Plastic materials have an unjustly bad reputation. They weren’t always a part of our world but created by us, humans. In a way, we are the creators of molecular structures, influencing the position of atoms. We are able to predetermine the properties of our future creations and make new plastic materials specifically tailored to fit our needs and thus implement progressive innovations,” says Michael Londesborough.
Plastics in the form of waste play a significant role in the environmental pollution of our planet. On the other hand, they significantly simplify our lives and widen our scope of opportunities. One problem is our own behavior and the way that we treat these valuable materials. That’s why Michael Londesborough’s presentation will focus on questions such as why we hate that, which we’ve created or whether our skills in chemistry are truly incompatible with nature. Is there a way to reconcile this relationship, or are we at the end of the polymer age?
Unipetrol Group, the biggest petrochemical manufacturer in the Czech Republic, considers the creation and support of projects focused on sustainable models of production and consumption as part of its social responsibility. In collaboration with Michael Londesborough, Unipetrol has also created “Let’s talk about it”, a discussion video series, where various scientists and experts share their views and opinions on sustainability. The platform explores how the trend of sustainability is changing the economic world around us and how we ourselves can contribute to making the change a positive one.