RESEARCH SEMINAR: Plastics in relation with the planetary boundaries.

Guest : Dr. Jorge Alberto Medina Perilla

Title : Plastics in relation with the planetary boundaries.

Date / Time : 17 June 2026, 13:40

Location : FENS G032

Abstract: Environmental assessment in the plastics sector has traditionally focused on climate change, despite increasing scientific evidence that environmental sustainability depends on maintaining all planetary boundaries within a safe operating space. Current literature demonstrates that Earth-system stability is affected not only by greenhouse gas emissions, but also by freshwater use, biosphere integrity, land-system change, biogeochemical flows, ocean acidification, and novel entities. The continued transgression of several of these boundaries increases the risk of irreversible climatic and ecological tipping points, highlighting the need to move beyond carbon-centered environmental evaluations.

This challenge is particularly relevant for the plastics sector due to its dependence on fossil resources, increasing production demand, and generation of pollutants capable of affecting multiple planetary boundaries simultaneously. Furthermore, the environmental performance of plastic systems is strongly influenced by regional conditions, including energy matrices, waste-management infrastructure, technological development, and local environmental pressures. Consequently, sustainability assessments should incorporate both planetary boundary perspectives and regional environmental contexts to support environmentally relevant decision-making.

Bio: Jorge Alberto Medina is an Associate Professor III, Director of the Materials and Manufacturing Group CIPP-CIPEM of the Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia. Academic member of the Colombian Pact for Plastics led by CEMPRE (2022-), of the Roundtable for Sustainable Plastic Management, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia (2018-2022) and Colombian International Representative of the Polymer Processing Society (2017-). Lecturer and academic change agent in environmental sustainability of materials and packaging. Proven results in achieving material innovations in private companies, with a sustainable orientation, applied in packaging, construction and agriculture.

He is co-author of 4 invention patents in active packaging and has more than 60 publications, 20 of which are in international peer-reviewed journals (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6995-5273). He has developed more than 17 projects funded by industry and government entities. He has won awards, including the Recycling Award in the Research Category from the Ministry of the Environment (2007), the “Crea PVC a la Innovación 2009” award for the best research work with business potential with the “Woodpecker” project and 3rd place in the Weinberg Vinyl Communications Award awarded by the Vinyl Division at the ANTEC 2011 congress of the Society of Plastics Engineers. He has been a guest professor at the Procédés et Ingénierie en Mécanique et Matériaux (PIMM) laboratory at ENSAM, Paris (2014) and the Engineering Polymer group at the University of Bayreuth, Germany (2017, 2018 and 2022). Today is active in the Start Up Ecobioplast SAS, manufacturing TPS based flexible packaging.