William Richard Acres, a native bilingual in English and German, was raised in the UK and Austria. Following secondary education, he moved to Vienna to pursue a degree in chemical engineering at TU Wien. William's talent for public speaking emerged when he placed first in a state-level competition around the age of 16. Since then, he has leveraged this gift in various aspects of his life and career- most recently by winning a renewable energy business case challenge at OMV, the Austrian energy and chemicals company. During a six-month internship, he focused on circular economy solutions. William has a passion for what he calls “sustainable profitability”, which is the practice of combining sustainability, technology and economics. When he isn’t studying or working, he likes to keep fit by lifting and running.

Fun fact: William served two years in the Austrian armed forces before attending university and currently holds the rank of sergeant (NATO OR-5) in a fast-response reserves unit.

 

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Going round in circles (in a good way)

Planet Earth is, to humanity´s knowledge, the only planet in the universe that is naturally capable of sustaining life. It is therefore critical that we preserve its habitability for future generations. Achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals requires a fundamental shift in society—from a linear economy, where we produce, use, and dispose to a circular economy, where products and resources are re-valorised and reused as efficiently as possible. Using plastics as a prime example, this talk will explore our current situation, future directions and the steps required to make “sustainable profitability” the new standard.