Description:

“The Technology of Plastic Recycling”

Dr. Brian Riise
Sustainable Materials Recovery Group

Abstract

Less than 10% of the plastics discarded in the US are recovered for recycling, with the remainder (over 30 million tons per year) ending up in landfills. A large portion of the plastics that are recovered in the US are exported for recycling, though this market has been disrupted by the recent ban on the import of certain waste materials into China. At the same time that most waste plastics end up in landfills or are exported, consumer products companies in the US often struggle to find a large enough supply of recycled plastics to meet their corporate sustainability targets. Technologies are available to recycle these waste plastics, and smarter use of these technologies (in combination with increased customer demand and disruptions in export markets) could enable plastic recycling at much higher rates. In this presentation, we review some of the waste plastic streams and then take a closer look at the technologies available for recycling these plastics. In particular, we review a number of the existing and emerging technologies available for cleaning, separating, purifying and compounding these waste plastics into high quality pellets suitable for use in new products.

Speaker Background
Brian Riise has over 25 years of experience in Research and Development related to polymers and recycling. In his current role as President and Technical Director for the Sustainable Materials Recovery Group (SuMaRec), he works with recyclers, equipment suppliers, compounders and brand owners to enable the recovery of plastics and to use these plastics in new products. Prior to starting SuMaRec in June of 2017, Brian was the Director of Research and Development for MBA Polymers. During his 19 years with the company, he was responsible for developing the processes and formulations necessary to produce high value plastics from complex streams such as shredded end-of-life electronics and automobiles. Brian is an inventor on 12 US patents, and managed a patent portfolio of over 40 patents in the US and internationally. In addition to his work in the development and protection of MBA Polymers’ technology, Brian was closely involved in the design, construction, operations, product development and technical sales for the company’s facilities in the US, China, Austria and the United Kingdom. Brian has a BS in chemical engineering from UC Davis and a PhD in chemical engineering from UC Santa Barbara. For his PhD, he studied the rheology of polymer blends and block copolymers.

Date:

Monday, July 16, 2018

Location:

Michael’s at Shoreline
2960 N Shoreline Blvd
Mountain View, CA

Map

Timing:

6 PM social hour
7 PM dinner
8 PM lecture

Cost:

	Employed/postdoc	Student/unemployed/retired
Early Registration	$30	$15
Registration	$35	$20
Walk-in (not guaranteed)	$40	$25

Lecture-only is free.

 

Payment:

We accept cash or checks at the door, or online payment via credit card. No-shows are responsible for full payment of registration fee.

Registration:

Please register below or contact:

Len Radzilowski
email: lradzilo@te.com
phone: 650-361-3264

Deadline for registration:

11:59PM, Tuesday, July 10 for early registration.
5:00PM, Friday, July 13 for regular registration.

Dinner Selection:

Seafood - Broiled salmon with lemon beurre blanc
Chicken - Chicken Florentine
Vegetarian - Vegetable brochette

You should receive confirmation of your registration; if not, please contact us again.