The Polish National Finals of the European Youth Debating Competition (EYDC) 2019 took place on 21st May in Kraków, where over 70 young students from secondary schools from all over Poland discussed on their sustainable future and on the role of petrochemicals and plastics. During debating on this important challenge, the participants in their speeches focused on the importance of resource efficiency as well as role of innovative technologies in solving future challenges. The three winners of the Polish debate were: 1. Kamil Petrykiewicz (V LO im. księcia Józefa Poniatowskiego, Warsaw) 2. Maja Cortinovis (V LO im. księcia Józefa Poniatowskiego, Warsaw) 3. Julia Kubiak (Merridian International School, Warsaw) They all won a ticket to the European Finals in Berlin, held as part of the 53rd EPCA Annual Meeting, the largest gathering of the petrochemical industry in Europe, where they will debate with young winners from other European countries on the theme: „*Rethink, Reuse, Recycle: how would you shape a sustainable future with plastics and petrochemicals*?” The main objective of the European Youth Debating Competition – a joint project organised by EPCA and PlasticsEurope – is to offer a unique opportunity for students to acquire new skills, by interacting and expressing themselves about societal and industry linked topics. For the industry, it is an opportunity to connect with the new generation, listen, learn about their views as well as their visions of our future*. *All the debates organised in Belgium for a joint “Benelux” Finals, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom including the final debate in Berlin follow the same standardized structure and formula, and all students will be assessed according to the same criteria. Kazimierz Borkowski, Managing Director of PlasticsEurope Polska underlines*: “The topic of this year debate was not easy – sustainable development is a very complex issue. It is becoming more and more present in the public debate, especially among young people and we are really happy that our debaters perfectly coped with it. Young people are aware that the most important challenges of the future such as limited resources and growing world population need clever solutions. Such solutions can be brought by petrochemicals and plastics.”* Tomasz Piec (Chief Commercial Officer SYNTHOS SA, Member of Steering Board of PlasticsEurope) adds: *I am happy that this year European Youth Debating Competition was run in Kraków, thus this prestigious project was easier accessible for students from our region, including Oświęcim. Topics related to industry and environment always raise emotions and it is of great value that young people are able to address these emotions in well-founded speeches. The winners showed best debating skills presenting clear and logic arguments and we hope that they will win also in Berlin”. * Further information about the EYDC is available at www.eydc.eu, www.epca.eu, www.plasticseurope.org and Twitter: #youthdebate2019.