Plasticity and capturing gold: The future of plastic

Plasticity and capturing gold: The future of plastic – A Rio+20 side event

A future-focused forum on plastics, Plasticity Rio ’12, will be held on 21st June alongside the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20 Earth Summit.

Plasticity Rio ’12 will focus on the future of plastic in an exciting exploration of the opportunities that will make a difference in the way that plastic is designed, used and reused. The forum is a global collaboration by Ocean Recovery Alliance (Hong Kong), Republic of Everyone (Australia), Applied Brilliance (America) and Metodo (Brazil).

“Plastic is one of the materials that links almost all of our companies and industries to the ocean and our environment,” said Doug Woodring, founder of Plasticity and the Ocean Recovery Alliance. “By focusing on the newest technologies and innovations in design, packaging, materials, recovery, recycling and re-use, we will be able to showcase where leaders are going in this space and how great improvements can be made in reduced environmental impact.”

Plasticity Rio ’12 will bring together 300 leading plastics decision-makers to show the world what innovations, technologies and solutions we can expect in the future of plastics. The forum is supported by leading innovators: Google, Clinton Foundation, Business for the Environment (B4E), Hub Culture, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Taiwan’s Plastic Industry Development Center (PIDC), MBA Polymners, and VISY.

The forum attendees will come from wide-ranging sectors including textiles, retailers, manufacturers, service industries, recyclers, design and packaging industries, waste-to-fuel companies and bio-plastic producers.

To engage global communities to consider the future of plastic prior to the event, the forum is launching a global initiative called ‘Capturing Gold’ which focuses on the opportunities in PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) bottles. Launching on 22nd April 2012 ‘Capturing Gold’ is an international initiative to identify ideas for ‘Capturing Gold’ i.e. bringing in large volumes of PET plastic bottles and finding the most innovative, valuable ways to then use that PET ‘gold’.

“Creativity, innovation and ideas are critical to build a sustainable future,” said Matt Perry founding Partner of Republic of Everyone. “Capturing Gold will seek out the smartest, brightest thinking on the future of sustainable use and re-use of plastic. We looking for ideas that range from the simple and obvious – ‘Why isn’t every company doing this already?’ – to the wildly insane ‘you must be kidding, right?’ types of ideas.”

‘Capturing Gold’ will use Tinkby, an online collaboration platform designed to help large groups of people think together. The system invites users to generate ideas, build on the ideas of others and vote for the concepts most likely to have an impact in the real world.

“We know the most powerful way to brilliant thinking is through collaboration,” said Mr Perry. “We are delighted to be partnering with Tinkby on this initiative and can’t wait to see the ideas start to come in from around the world.”

The ‘Capturing Gold’ is aimed at individuals, companies or organisations with an interest in design and or concept-led solutions for PET plastic. The winning ideas will be judged by an international jury and announced at Plasticity Rio ’12 and discussed in a half-day stakeholder workshop on 22nd June with Rapid Results Institute – a renowned consultancy that help teams achieve real results in 100 days or less.

Nadim Matta, President of the Rapid Results Institute and Managing Partner of Schaffer Consulting, will engage workshop participants in finding ways to experiment with some of the winning ideas within 100 days from leaving the UN RIO+20 Earth Summit.

The ‘Capturing Gold’ workshop will be broadcast and shared via YouTube and other social media platforms. Sharing the workshop means leaders, thinkers and ‘doers’ within their communities can take advantage of the opportunities that result from this collaborative process.

For more information on Plasticity Rio ’12 and ‘Capturing Gold’ go to www.plasticityforum.com.