SPE Additives & Color Europe Conference 2026 | Valencia, Spain • 11–12 June, 2026
SPE ON DEMAND WORKSHOP: Material Selection and Product Durability for Sustainable Plastics in Buildings and Infrastructures
SPE On Demand Workshop
Material Selection and Product Durability for Sustainable Plastics in Buildings and Infrastructures
Summary
While plastics industry has attributed a tremendous effort to recycling and circular economy, the construction materials industries have emphases its sustainability effort on the impact of using polymer-based materials through construction and service life, raised up to 100-years requirements. Greenhouse gases imprint remains the leading driver for sustainability in civil infrastructures and buildings, in example with LEED program. Given a significant decrease in GHG emission, polymer-based products have been criticized for their harmful impact. Among the concerns raised are the release of microplastics and the contamination of water with toxic compounds such as PFAS, BPA and phthalates.
Material selection requires a thorough evaluation of its overall impacts and life cycle, considering four gated steps for circularity: cradle-to-product, product-to-construction, construction-to end of life, and end of life-to-cradle. Durability is indeed a critical factor in the evaluation of a life cycle analysis (LCA). Degradation mechanisms are presented for several polymers, most used with building materials and geosynthetics. Prediction models for the assessment of material durability are compared with field data. Given discrepancies between models and reality, a risk management approach is proposed to compensate for the uncertainties and unforeseen.
Agenda
(Click each session to expand)
Duration: 1 Hour
Outline
Key dimensions of sustainability for plastics in buildings and infrastructures
Overview of sustainability programs and greenhouse (GHG) gas protocols
State-of-the-art practices and trends in circular economy
Workshop Pack
Strengthen your team’s skills and take advantage of group savings with a Material Selection and Product Durability for Sustainable Plastics in Buildings and InfrastructuresOn Demand Workshop Pack. Go here for more information.
4 Sessions
Level: Intermediate
Total Hours: 4 Hours
Instructor
David Beaumier
Director, Tech. , Polymers & Geosynthetics CTT Group
David Beaumier, Eng., M.Sc.A., MBA, is a business engineer specialized in technology transfer and innovation. Through 25 years’ experience in product development and research, he has developed niche sectors with specific characterization of synthetic materials, assessment of their durability, and prediction of their service life. His career initially focused on process and materials development and on advanced characterization of engineering materials. Through 18 years within CTT Group, he worked in the geosynthetics and building materials sector, known under the trade name of SAGEOS (geosynthetic analysis service). Among innovation projects, he participated within over 50 R&D projects from the manufacturing technology to the durability improvement of geosynthetics.
Recent papers from David Beaumier on durability and long-term performance:
Beaumier, D., Fourmont, S., Koerner, G.,Lifetime considerations of geotextile UV exposure before installation, GeoAmericas 2024, Toronto, Canada, 2024.
Beaumier, D., Fazli, A.,Evaluation of geomembrane UV exposure using geographic and climate data, Geosynthetics 2023, Kansas City, MO, USA, 2023.
Sati, R., Beaumier D.,Stress-Cracking Resistance of a Bi-modal PE-RT HDPE Geomembrane, Geosynthetics 2021, Virtual (Kansas City, MO, USA), 2021.
Mills, A., Fraser, B., Beaumier, D.,Long-term Performance of HDPE Geomembranes Exposed to a High Temperature Brine Solution, Geosynthetics 2019, Houston, TX, USA, 2019.
Jablonka M., Beaumier D., Blond E.,Long-term durability of polymeric water-resistive barriers, 10th Annual North American Passive House Conference, Chicago, IL, USA, 2015.
Are you working in construction, civil engineering, or material science and grappling with the challenges of selecting sustainable materials for long-lasting performance? Balancing material durability with environmental impact is key to advancing sustainability in buildings and infrastructure.
Are you evaluating polymer-based materials for construction and concerned about their long-term effects, such as microplastics release or water contamination with PFAS, BPA, and phthalates?
Do you want to understand how life cycle analysis (LCA) and circularity principles—spanning cradle-to-product, product-to-construction, and beyond—can guide better material choices?
Are you interested in exploring degradation mechanisms for commonly used polymers, comparing prediction models with field data, and implementing risk management approaches to address uncertainties?
If the answer is YES to any of these questions, then this event on Material Selection and Product Durability for Sustainable Plastics in Buildings and Infrastructures is for you!
Why Should You Should Purchase On Demand?
Material requirements for designing must include sustainability on a wide horizon. The positive impact of plastics is to be demonstrated with metrics, including GHG emissions, LCA and durability assessment. This webinar aims promoting a methodology for rationale on the sustainability of plastics, using the construction field experience with polymers.
Kim McLoughlin Senior Research Engineer, Global Materials Science Braskem
A Resin Supplier’s Perspective on Partnerships for the Circular Economy
About the Speaker
Kim drives technology programs at Braskem to develop advanced polyolefins with improved recyclability and sustainability. As Principal Investigator on a REMADE-funded collaboration, Kim leads a diverse industry-academic team that is developing a process to recycle elastomers as secondary feedstock. Kim has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Cornell. She is an inventor on more than 25 patents and applications for novel polyolefin technologies. Kim is on the Board of Directors of SPE’s Thermoplastic Materials & Foams Division, where she has served as Education Chair and Councilor.
A Resin Supplier’s Perspective on Partnerships for the Circular Economy
About the Speaker
Gamini has a BS and PhD from Purdue University in Materials Engineering and Sustainability. He joined Penn State as a Post Doctorate Scholar in 2020 prior to his professorship appointment. He works closely with PA plastics manufacturers to implement sustainability programs in their plants.
A Resin Supplier’s Perspective on Partnerships for the Circular Economy
About the Speaker
Tom Giovannetti holds a Degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Tulsa and for the last 26 years has worked for Chevron Phillips Chemical Company. Tom started his plastics career by designing various injection molded products for the chemical industry including explosion proof plugs and receptacles, panel boards and detonation arrestors for 24 inch pipelines. Tom also holds a patent for design of a polyphenylene sulfide sleeve in a nylon coolant cross-over of an air intake manifold and is a Certified Plastic Technologist through the Society of Plastic Engineers. Tom serves on the Oklahoma Section Board as Councilor, is also the past president of the local Oklahoma SPE Section, and as well serves on the SPE Injection Molding Division board.
Joseph Lawrence, Ph.D. Senior Director and Research Professor University of Toledo
A Resin Supplier’s Perspective on Partnerships for the Circular Economy
About the Speaker
Dr. Joseph Lawrence is a Research Professor and Senior Director of the Polymer Institute and the Center for Materials and Sensor Characterization at the University of Toledo. He is a Chemical Engineer by training and after working in the process industry, he has been engaged in polymers and composites research for 18+ years. In the Polymer Institute he leads research on renewably sourced polymers, plastics recycling, and additive manufacturing. He is also the lead investigator of the Polyesters and Barrier Materials Research Consortium funded by industry. Dr. Lawrence has advised 20 graduate students, mentored 8 staff scientists and several undergraduate students. He is a peer reviewer in several journals, has authored 30+ peer-reviewed publications and serves on the board of the Injection Molding Division of SPE.
Matt Hammernik Northeast Account Manager Hasco America
A Resin Supplier’s Perspective on Partnerships for the Circular Economy
About the Speaker
Matt Hammernik serves as Hasco America’s Northeast Area Account Manager covering the states Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. He started with Hasco America at the beginning of March 2022. Matt started in the Injection Mold Industry roughly 10 years ago as an estimator quoting injection mold base steel, components and machining. He advanced into outside sales and has been serving molders, mold builders and mold makers for about 7 years.
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