Williams Group at the London Design Museum ‘Waste Age’ Exhibition

The work of Chemistry Fellow Charlotte Williams and her team were part of a new exhibition on waste and throwaway culture at the Design Museum London.

Waste Age: What can design do? tells the story of society’s relationship with waste: from the throwaway culture which developed in 60’s alongside the boom in commercial polymers; the alarming scale of the waste problem at present; to the ideas, practices and products that are envisioned to comprise our ‘post-waste’ future.

Professor Williams and her team research sustainable polymer chemistry, carbon dioxide utilization and improving the future of plastics. Their contribution to the exhibition included an interactive display showing new types of polymers that can be directly made using carbon dioxide combined with waste citrus fruit peel compounds. The resulting polymers are plastics, elastics and coatings – in future they could be used to make insulation foams, soft furnishings, glues and coatings for wood or steel.

As polymer scientists, the team are molecular scale designers innovating from the millionth of a millimetre in scale to provide useful materials for real world applications. By using molecular design principles, the team considers all aspects of the material’s life cycle from the raw materials used to make plastics to the manufacturing processes to fabricate products to the end-life recycling options. As well the exhibit which show-cases several different types of polymer samples, molecular models and a video showing the laboratory in Oxford Chemistry, the exhibition also included a short film  featuring Professor Williams discussing how chemistry can positively contribute to a sustainable future of plastics.

The team that put the exhibition together included Trinity postgraduates Kam Poon and Jamie Wilmore, along with Williams Group postgraduates Holly Yeo, Wouter Lindeboom.

Professor Williams says: “The exhibition aims to demonstrate how the production of waste is central to our way of life whilst inspiring hope for a greener and more conscientious world. It was a great opportunity to showcase our team’s research in sustainable plastics alongside some designers who are campaigning in their own ways to educate consumers about waste. The exhibition was a really fun event to work on and I can see an interesting future potential for scientists working with artists and designers to offer a different perspective on plastics.”

Waste Age ran from November 2021-February 2022 and attracted more than 20,000 visitors.