Visiting chemist to give public talk at UPEI on March 31 about ‘green’ plastics

You can't spin a two-litre pop bottle in the modern world without hitting another piece of plastic. Plastics are cheap to produce, lightweight, and are strong and flexible enough to be used in millions of applications. However, most are made from finite oil resources, and at the end of their usefulness are either thrown into a landfill or burned, generating harmful emissions.

Dr. Andrew Dove, Associate Professor of Chemistry and RCUK at the University of Warwick in Coventry, UK, will give a public talk entitled "Biodegradable Plastics: A Sustainable Future or A Temporary Fix?' on Wednesday, March 31, in the Wanda Wyatt Lecture Theatre (Room 104) of UPEI's K. C. Irving Chemistry Building, at 7 p.m.

Poly(lactide) is the leading contender of the new so-called 'green plastics,' made of renewable organic material. As the cost of production of green plastics decreases, chemists such as Dr. Dove are trying to overcome some of their chemical drawbacks, including their tendency to be brittle, and their lack of usefulness in hot or cold environments.