S. Gonella (Sara)

Sara is a PhD candidate at Radboud University. Her PhD project is a collaboration between two academic faculties (the Nijmegen School of Management and the Faculty of Science) and Chemelot, a chemical industry cluster based in Geleen (Limburg, the Netherlands).
In her research, Sara is investigating what a transition towards sustainability in the plastics industry might look like. Plastic is an extremely versatile material that has spread into various sectors and applications due to its technical properties and low production costs. However, there is a growing awareness of the problems associated with the use of plastics, such as the consumption of non-renewable resources, the diverse and considerable challenges related to waste management, plastic debris and microplastics, etc.
The aim of Sara's PhD project is to investigate the problems of the plastics system with a holistic and multidisciplinary approach, examining not only the technical but also the economic and socio-political aspects.