Raising awareness about living in a plastic world is a global challenge that is highlighted in the session “Being Plastic”. Finding a global consensus for plastic regulation requires an understanding of how plastics are used as a raw material, how they are used as products, and how they perform after they are disposed of. The industry grew rapidly around the production of new plastics; however, businesses are increasingly adapting and developing processes to reclaim existing materials in and out of circulation. At academic universities, scalable fabrication techniques compatible with current infrastructural systems are being developed for industrial application. Alternative plastics such as biomaterials are receiving renewed attention because they offer possibilities to claim resources from renewable systems and reduce waste creation.