6. Nilesh Shah (Dow Chemical) on sustainability

I speak with Dr. Nilesh Shah, the former Global R&D Director at Dow Chemical about sustainability and circular economy. (0:00) Nilesh Shah’s biography (1:02) Defining sustainability and circular economy (3:20) The impact of chemical products on greenhouse gas reductions (7:00) Incongruity between plastics’ net positive impact on the world and the media’s portrayal of plastics (12:08) Responsibility of various players in the plastics ecosystem (15:45) Achieving circular economy via incremental and breakthrough solutions (18:16) Examples of short term incremental solutions (20:53) Economic viability of short term solutions (22:29) Role of legislation and regulation in sustainability efforts (25:12) Process of removing harmful chemicals off the market (27:54) When regulatory bodies tend to step in (30:05) What it takes for sustainable alternatives to be adopted (31:08) Importance of systems thinking in achieving sustainability