Plastic is part of modern life. It protects products, preserves goods and supports convenience, safety and affordability. But when plastic is used briefly, discarded poorly or allowed to escape waste systems, those same qualities become part of the problem. Plastic lasts. It travels. It breaks up, rather than disappearing, which is why preventing it from becoming waste when possible matters.
Ocean Plastics: Research and Action is a new exhibition from Royal Holloway, University of London, in partnership with SC Johnson. It shows how plastic can move from land to rivers, from rivers to the ocean, and from visible waste into microplastics and nanoplastics that are much harder to see, track and remove, highlighting the importance of awareness, prevention and stronger waste management systems.
The exhibition features research from Royal Holloway exploring how different plastics degrade over time, how synthetic clothing can shed fibres through washing, and how researchers are studying microplastics in local rivers connected to wider water systems.
SC Johnson is supporting Ocean Plastics: Research and Action as part of its wider commitment to sustainability education and partnership-driven efforts to address plastic waste.
SC Johnson’s partnership with Royal Holloway, University of London reflects a shared belief that research, education, innovation and collaboration all have a role to play in reducing plastic pollution.
Find out more about SC Johnson's work to reduce plastic pollution here.
Find out how to visit below:
Opening hours
The exhibition is open 10am-6am every day.
Location
The exhibition is held in the Davison Exhibition Space, in the Emily Wilding Davison Building on our Egham campus.
Enter the Davison Building to access the large open atrium. The Exhibition Space is on the wall facing the silver library barriers, look out for the Ocean Plastics window sticker.
Getting here
Visitors can use the following address to travel to campus:
Royal Holloway University
Egham Hill
Egham
Surrey
TW20 0EX
The nearest train station is Egham station (25 mins walk), and 441 and 500 buses stop on the A30 next to campus.
Accessibility
The Exhibition Space is step-free, with benches available throughout the space.
Large print booklets will be available for your visit.
There are toilets available in the Davison Building atrium next to Social Bite, and a water point is accessible past the silver library barriers and to the left after the stairs.
Culture on Campus
Whilst you are on campus, why not explore our heritage services?
The Picture Gallery is open to the public from 10am-3pm on Wednesdays in terms 1 and 2.
Archive appointments can be booked with our Archivist on Tuesdays and Thursdays by emailing archives@rhul.ac.uk
Art store appointments can be booked with our Art Collections team all week by emailing artcollections@rhul.ac.uk
