SUSTAINABILITY
Knowledge bank
To address this , the University will position itself as the broker , providing research support for manufacturers , users , civic administrators and consumers .
Professor Fletcher , who is Director of the University of Portsmouth ’ s Sustainability and the Environment research theme and an adviser to the United Nations on ocean resources , says the Revolution Plastics programme seeks to achieve a transition away from unsustainable and polluting practices to a future in which sustainable plastics manufacturing and consumption is the norm .
“ Transitions are pathways of change that require social , economic , technological , and scientific approaches to support the move from one system or state to an improved system or state ,” he says .
“ Transitioning to a sustainable plastics future creates an opportunity to engage with multiple disciplines – biology , psychology , marine sciences , geosciences , fashion , food and urban design – and industry and community sectors , at different scales and intensities .”
Professor Fletcher says this ambition is consistent with global initiatives , such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals , the Paris Climate Agreement , the principles of the circular economy , and living within the planet ’ s safe operating space , as championed by the UN International Resource Panel and World Economic Forum .
The plastic-digesting enzyme
In launching Revolution Plastics , the University is building on the momentum created by its globally acclaimed engineering of an enzyme that can digest some of the most commonly polluting plastics , such as plastic bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate ( PET ), which persists for hundreds of years in the environment . Of the one million plastic bottles sold every minute across the globe , only 14 per cent are recycled . Most end up in the oceans , damaging marine ecosystems .
The plastic-digesting enzyme research was led by teams at the University of Portsmouth and the US Department of Energy ’ s National Renewable Energy Laboratory ( NREL ). Professor John McGeehan at the University and Dr Gregg Beckham at NREL solved the crystal structure of PETase – a recently discovered enzyme that digests PET . During this study , they engineered an enzyme that is even better at degrading the plastic than the one that evolved in nature .
Professor McGeehan , who is Director of the Centre for Enzyme Innovation , makes the point : “ Few could have predicted that , when plastics became popular in the 1960s , huge swathes of plastic waste would eventually be found floating in oceans , or washed up on once pristine beaches all over the world .
“ We can all play a significant part in dealing with this problem , but the scientific community which created these ‘ wonder materials ’, must now use all the technology at its disposal to develop real solutions .”
We see this being a pilot programme for the planet … an incubator for similar programmes in other cities , communities and countries .
– Professor Steve Fletcher
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