Women have played key roles in the chemical, plastics and rubber industries for more than a century. Our sister publication, Sustainable Plastics, takes a brief look at four women who played big roles in innovations for the industry in the 20th century and women leading developments in sustainability in the 21st century.
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Leaders in plastics, past and present
This International Women’s Day, Sustainable Plastics highlights four women who made world changing contributions to the plastics industry in the past and four women who are leading the switch to a circular plastics economy today
Mary Elizabeth Anderson
Mary Elizabeth Anderson, born in 1866, was an American inventor best known for her groundbreaking windshield wiper system that could be created from inside the vehicle.
Anderson's invention was created for trolley cars and she received a 17-year in 1903. When the auto industry took off a few years later, her concept was adapted to cars. In 1922, Cadillac was the first automotive brand to begin installing a wiper as standard equipment on its vehicles.
Bessie Virginia Blount
Bessie Virginia Blount, born in 1914, was a pioneering African American inventor known for her contributions to the field of rehabilitation therapy. She worked as a licensed physiotherapist at Bronx Hospital where she cared for World War II veterans and amputees.
Among her notable inventions was the feeding tube, made of plastic tubing and a valve system. The device allowed her patients to regain independence by feeding themselves. Blount's innovative use of plastics in medical devices marked a significant advancement in the field, enhancing the quality of life for countless individuals.
Mary Elliott Hill
Mary Elliot Hill, born in 1907, was one of the first African American women to become a chemist. Hill was both an organic and analytical chemist and her main research interest focused on the properties of ultraviolet light. However, she was also an early pioneer in the new science of plastics.
Working alongside her husband, Carl McClellan Hill, she did groundbreaking work on ketene synthesis. Her focus was on what are known as ‘monomeric ketenes’ that can undergo polymerization. This is a critical step in the creation of all plastics.
Stephanie Kwolek
Stephanie Kwolek, the first woman inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame, is best known as the creator of Kevlar.
A Polish-American chemist born in 1923, Kwolek discovered the first of a family of synthetic fibers of exceptional strength and stiffness, poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide. She worked at DuPont Co. for more than 40 years.
Her groundbreaking research to develop Kevlar aramid fibers led to a material used throughout aerospace, the auto industry and for protective clothing used by emergency services workers worldwide.
LaShanda Korley
LaShanda Korley, born in 1978, is a polymer scientist at the University of Delaware. As co-leader of her university’s Center for Plastics Innovation, Korley is driving research breakthroughs in chemical recycling by exploring new ways to catalyze the breaking down of plastics.
Korley and her team experiment with chemical and enzyme applications to depolymerize polymers and recover monomers that can be used to make new products. She has also participated in groundbreaking research to enhance the molecular structure of polymers to strengthen the building blocks used to make plastics, gels and 3D printed objects.
Ellen MacArthur
Ellen MacArthur, born in 1976, is a record-breaking British sailor and environmental advocate. Following her solo circumnavigation of the globe in 2005, she founded the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, dedicated to promoting the transition to a circular economy.
One of the foundation's key initiatives focuses on addressing plastic pollution, advocating for the reduction, reuse, and recycling of plastics to prevent further environmental degradation. MacArthur's efforts have sparked global awareness and is helping to drive change, for example through the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, which includes more than 200 businesses across the plastics value chain, financial institutions and NGOs.
Nzambi Matee
Nzambi Matee, a Kenyan materials engineer born in 1993, founded Gjenge Makers in 2017, a company dedicated to recycling plastic waste into sustainable construction materials like bricks. Matee's innovative work helps fight plastic pollution whilst providing affordable building materials for low-income communities. She has earned recognition, including the 2020 Young Champion of the Earth award from the United Nations Environment Programme.
Miranda Wang
Miranda Wang, a Canadian entrepreneur born in 1994, is CEO and co-founder of Novoloop. Novoloop has developed a proprietary process called ATOD — short for Accelerated Thermal Oxidative Decomposition — that breaks down polyethylene, the most widely used plastic today, into chemical building blocks that can be synthesized into high-value products.
ATOD createa a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) called Oistre used in high-performance applications such as footwear, apparel, sporting goods, automotive, and electronics. According to Novoloop, Oistre's carbon footprint is up to 46 percent smaller than conventional TPUs.
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