The Plasticity Forum will hold its fourth annual conference on 8 and 9 June in Cascais, on the outskirts of Lisbon, Portugal. The forum will bring together approximately 200 business leaders and experts to discuss innovative solutions to the growing plastic pollution problem facing land and marine environments.

A global event, The Plasticity Forum was launched in Rio de Janeiro, and has since been held in Hong Kong and New York, with the upcoming conference marking its first European event. 

The venue for this year's event will be the Pousada de Cascais - Cidadela Historic Hotel, an old fort facing the Atlantic Ocean that has been converted into a boutique resort. The event will also include a dinner for all attendees at The Presidential Palace in Cascais.

A recent study from the University of Georgia's College of Engineering found between 4.8 and 12.7 million metric tons of plastic entered the ocean in 2010 from people living within 50 kilometers of the coastline. That year, a total of 275 million metric tons of plastic waste was generated in those 192 coastal countries. Globally, some 280 million tons of plastic is produced annually, yet estimates suggest that only 10 percent is actually recycled. 

Capturing this waste stream presents a significant and untapped business opportunity, as does the redesign of packaging and the thought process around waste creation. The Plasticity Forum presents ideas and opens up discussions on how to harness this material in new ways.

"Companies are beginning to realize that environmental sustainability has a positive impact not only on the communities they serve, but also their own bottom line," said Doug Woodring, founder of Plasticity. “Managing the plastic ecosystem through recycling, reuse and closed-loop methods can make our planet healthier while also creating efficiency in corporate supply chains.”