Study level

  • Honours
  • Vacation research experience scheme

Faculty/School

Faculty of Science

School of Chemistry and Physics

Topic status

We're looking for students to study this topic.

Research centre

Centre for a Waste-Free World

Supervisors

Professor Leonie Barner
Position
Principal Research Fellow
Division / Faculty
Faculty of Science

External supervisors

  • Dr Kerstin Wyssusek (QLD Health)

Overview

Recovering, recycling, reuse and reducing waste in the health sector becomes more and more important as it will help hospitals to become more sustainable and to reduce their impact on greenhouse gas emissions. Life cycle assessments of materials, for examples plastic packaging, is an important tool to establish the best practice for recovery and recycling of these materials.

Research activities

You will be working with a clinician who is passionate about reducing waste at hospitals, a polymer chemist from QUT, as well as an international expert in life cycle assessment. You will learn how to perform a life cycle assessment (LCA) and will help to gather the data that are needed for the LCA.

Outcomes

We aim to gain a better understanding of the impact of plastic packaging in hospitals and identify the best method to recycle plastic packaging. Ideally, the study should result in a publication.

Skills and experience

You will learn how to perform life cycle assessments during the project. You should have an interest in sustainability and the circular economy, data literacy and a good level of communication skills.

Keywords

Contact

Contact the supervisor for more information.