Lars J Nilsson sees similarities between STEPS work and the solutions put forward in the IPCC sixth assessment report

Lars J Nilsson is leader of work package three in STEPS. Photo: Kennet Ruona.

Professor Lars J Nilsson has been involved in STEPS since the very start. He is especially proud of the fact that the programme connects plastics to climate change, and highlights the need for multiple and integrated pathways to change the plastic system – in a time when most of society’s focus is still on plastic litter and single use plastics.

– Throughout, we have tried to emphasise the bigger picture in our work. Plastics have to be viewed as a complex system, requiring integrated solutions such as smart use, circular systems and renewable sources. There are no silver bullets or one-size fits all solutions, says Lars J Nilsson, professor at Environment and Energy systems at LTH, and leader of STEPS work package three: plastic governance.

Similarities between IPCC report and STEPS’ work

He reflects that there are many similarities between the ideas and solutions identified in STEPS, and those put forward in the lPCC sixth assessment report on climate mitigation, which was published over the course of 2022. Lars J Nilsson was coordinating lead author for chapter 11: Industry, which focuses on decarbonisation of emission intensive industries including petrochemicals and plastics. Options discussed in the report include reduced demand, improving material efficiency and circularity, electrification and hydrogen, sourcing of non-fossil carbon, and carbon capture and storage solutions.

– These ideas should be of crucial interest to the plastics industry, especially since the sector is a major contributor towards emissions. However, compared to other industrial subsectors the plastics industry appears to be the least ambitious or progressive on decarbonisation, says Lars J Nilsson.

Decarbonising industries will be hard but not impossible, according to Lars J Nilsson. One hurdle is the lack of experience, and of large scale implemented research solutions. He compares it to renewable energy, where efforts to devise sustainable alternatives to fossil-based energy sources have been ongoing for more than 40 years. However, a big advantage is that society’s technical know-how, and awareness of the climate crisis, are growing year by year – and that solutions can now be scaled up and implemented at a faster rate than some decades ago.

A sea change is coming

– I strongly believe that we are seeing something of a mind-shift across many sectors. Policies on different levels, public opinion and industry initiatives are all pushing towards more sustainable use of plastics and other materials. In ten years, when society has had time to test and roll out different solutions, we will hopefully see substantial changes in how plastics are used and produced.

A major driver of this sea change will be the expansion of fossil free energy, a development which is set to accelerate as renewable energy is becoming cheaper. Without fossil feedstock for the chemical industry the necessary carbon must be sourced elsewhere. Biobased plastic is only one of many options according to Lars J Nilsson.

– Whether it wants to or not, the plastics sector will have to explore different sources for carbon atoms. This is an exciting development, and one in which STEPS can contribute with important research results. We have already done work on how to produce plastics from carbon dioxide, and are now continuing with a master thesis on how the shift from black to green carbon could look like.

Carbon price on plastic feedstock and EU-wide strategy to reduce plastic

In a shorter perspective, there are two things he would like to see to speed up the transition towards more sustainable plastics use: a carbon price on plastic feedstock to decrease the use of fossil-based resources, and an EU-wide strategy to reduce and improve the use of plastics, across a range of sectors such as food, retail, automotive and construction.

– We use way too much plastic packaging. This type of plastic has a very short life span, and could be replaced by other materials, or reused in different ways. Plastics often look better than metal and glass in comparative life-cycle analyses since it is light weight. This will change as competing materials and goods transport decarbonize, says Lars J Nilsson.