Interview with Dr. Volker Glöckner on the UN Plastic Agreement
Our interview partner, Dr Volker Glöckner, Head of Political Communication and Circular Economy at packaging specialist ALPLA, was in Geneva. He spoke to us about the latest developments surrounding the UN plastics agreement and the industry's efforts to curb environmental pollution caused by plastic waste.
Read more … Interview with Dr. Volker Glöckner on the UN Plastic Agreement
Interview with microplastics researcher Dr Korinna Altmann
Dr Korinna Altmann is an expert in the field of developing reference materials for microplastic analysis at the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM). We asked her about the current state of research and development in reference materials.
Read more … Interview with microplastics researcher Dr Korinna Altmann
Christoph Lindner on the study ‘Plastic flow in Germany 2023’
In November 2024, the latest ‘Plastic flow in Germany 2023 – Facts and Figures on the Life Cycle of Plastics’ was published. The study, which has been compiled every two years since 1994 by Conversio Market & Strategy GmbH on behalf of the BKV, provides data and facts on the production, processing, consumption and recycling of plastics in Germany and, for several years now, also on the use of recycled materials and by-products. Together with the BKV studies on plastics in the environment, the study plastic flow in Germany for plastics forms a solid and comprehensive database for a fact-based discussion on the life cycle of plastics.
Read more … Christoph Lindner on the study ‘Plastic flow in Germany 2023’
Study on the subject of fungi that degrade plastics
Scientists at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) and the University of Potsdam have, according to a study published in Science of the Total Environment, identified fungi in freshwater eco-systems that can efficiently degrade plastics. The results show that strains of Fusarium, Penicillium, Botryotinia and Trichoderma have a high potential to degrade polyethylene (PE), polyurethane (PUR) and tyre rubber. In the study, PUR proved to be the most readily degradable of all the tested plastics. The remarkable thing is, according to the research team, that no addition of sugars as an energy source is needed for breaking down the plastics by the fungi – unlike what was assumed from the studies carried out so far.
Read more … Study on the subject of fungi that degrade plastics
Microrobots filter microplastic from water
Czech researchers from the Future Energy and Innovation Laboratory, the Central European Institute of Technology and the Brno University of Technology have developed microrobots that are able, in a swarm, to remove microplastic from seas and other waters. The microrobots are controlled by magnetic fields and can, according to the research team, be cleaned and reused after taking up the microplastic. They see the microrobots as a highly promising approach for the cleaning and purifying of water.
Interview: Dr Sieglinde Stähle on microplastics in food
We talked to expert Dr Sieglinde Stähle about the current state of knowledge as regards microplastic in food. Dr Stähle is a member of the scientific management in the leading association of the German food industry, where she is responsible among other things for food hygiene, food contact materials and standardisation. In addition, the food technologist and graduate food engineer is a member of the Executive Committee of the German Food Code Committee and also belongs to the BfR Commission for Consumer Products of the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR).
Read more … Interview: Dr Sieglinde Stähle on microplastics in food
Oil-producing countries prevent agreement on UN plastic agreement in South Korea
The fifth round of negotiations (INC-5) for a United Nations agreement to reduce plastic waste has ended without an agreement. According to media reports, the states could not agree on binding measures and now want to continue negotiations next year. The reason for this is the resistance of oil-producing countries to an ambitious agreement that covers the entire life cycle of plastics, including requirements for the new production of plastics. The reactions to the failure of the agreement were mixed.
Read more … Oil-producing countries prevent agreement on UN plastic agreement in South Korea
EU pellets regulation to be tightened
On April 25, 2024, the EU Parliament took up its position on the EU Commission's proposal for a "Regulation on preventing plastic pellet losses to reduce microplastic pollution", and tightened up the regulation at various points. The proposal was made, for example, to extend the scope of validity of the regulation to small companies, to specify regular verification through certifications, and to take into account existing pollution through plastic pellets.
Project on microplastic pollution in the Danube region
Projects of the Interreg Danube region are co-funded by the European Union. The main obejective of the project “MicroDrink” is to work out basic principles that enable an assessment of the occurrence of microplastic in the groundwater and drinking water in the Danube region. 31 partners from Croatia (management) and Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Serbia and Bosnia Herzegovina, Slovenia want, as part of the project, to exchange know-how and experience in the next two and a half years with regard to sampling, analytics, monitoring and risk assessment. The Environment Agency Austria will, as a project partner, supply expertise on sampling and analytics in order to develop harmonised methods. The project was kicked off with a meeting of all the project partners at the beginning of March 2024 in Zagreb.
Read more … Project on microplastic pollution in the Danube region
Cosmetic bottles made of "ocean plastic"
The British cosmetics company Lush is switching successively to bottles made of certified recycled "Prevented Ocean Plastic". The company has, it says, been using 100% recycled PET for its transparent bottles for more than a decade. In April 2024, Lush announced that it would use "Prevented Ocean Plastic" for bottles with a size of 100, 250 and 500 ml. The bottles are produced in the UK as well as in Germany and Croatia.