NYUAD’s Plastic Recycling Research Lab
New York University Abu Dhabi’s Plastic Recycling Research Lab (aka the Plastic Lab) is an interdisciplinary design research lab with a focus on getting and sharing a holistic view onto global issues that relate to plastic and plastic recycling.
The Plastic Lab was inaugurated in December 2018 by Prof. Felix Beck. (Director and Principal Investigator 12/2018–08/2020). In Summer 2020 Beck handed the lab over to Professor Goffredo Puccetti who has been acting as Interim Director. The core team, which includes Philip Panicker, Pantelis Demetriou of NYUAD Engineering Division and Marcela Godoy from NYU Shanghai, continues the work and leads dedicated researchers, student research assistants, and community members to work on answers, and develop solutions towards questions such as:
Why plastic? How is plastic produced? How is it used in the market? What are the lifespans of the different types? What are processes of waste collection and processing? What are the short-, mid-, and long-term impacts of plastic waste to the environment? What does plastic recycling mean for todays society? How can recycled plastic be up-cycled into new products? How can the perception of plastic be changed in order to see it as a more precious material instead of a one-time use only material?
To find answers to the questions above the research team collaborates with partner institutions on a national and international level. The Plastic Lab also collaborates with the student initiative ECOHERENCE, and hosts the NYUAD Precious Plastic Group – a student interest group (SIG) that collects, washes, shreds, and creates new products from plastic collected on NYUAD campus. In November 2021 a team of NYUAD Students from the Plastic Lab set up two days of creative plastic recycling and bio-plastic making workshops at Dubai Design Week.
Find out more at Plastic Lab website: http://plastic.international/about-the-lab/
.png)
