Plastics are light, versatile, durable, cheap, and have low toxicity levels, and as such they deliver many benefits for society. However, their usefulness and adaptability has led to an explosion in the amount of plastics that we use, and often carelessly discard. Plastics impact the environment through the mountains of waste which persist for many decades, and also because of the energy and carbon impact of their production and use. In some applications though, plastic can still be the most sustainable material. This panel will discuss the intersecting issues of plastic and climate change, alternative raw materials, and the impact of dealing with plastic waste.