How microplastic gets to the Arctic
An interdisciplinary research team from the University of Vienna and the Max-Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organisation in Göttingen, Germany, has established in an ongoing study that the shape of microplastic particles contributes decisively to their transport properties. They combined laboratory experiments with model simulations of the global distribution of microplastic particles and concluded that fibres with a length of up to 1.5 millimetres can, because of their shape, reach very distant places of the Earth such as the Arctic.
Compulsory re-use of to-go products without effect
In order to restrict the littering caused by packaging waste such as single-use cups and trays in town centres and parks, railway stations and pedestrian zones, Germany has introduced its compulsory re-use for such products at restaurants, supermarkets and fuel stations beginning of 2023. For example, single-use cups for beverages fall under the new legislation, irrespective of the material from which they are made. With single-use containers for food, however, it is dependent on the material. If a restaurant owner or supplier offers the meal in a single-use dish made of plastic or with a plastic content, he must have a re-usable alternative at the ready. For this reason, many companies offering take-away meals have, according to press reports, switched to less environment-friendly disposable alternatives made of cardboard or aluminium. The German Government intends to change this part of the packaging legislation.
Read more … Compulsory re-use of to-go products without effect
Source One Plastics: Filter system for capturing microplastic
In a new recycling unit built by Source One Plastics in Eicklingen (Lower Saxony), a special high-performance filtration system has been installed that aims to prevent fine dust or microplastic particles getting into the environment. The facility began regular operation at the end of February 2024.
Read more … Source One Plastics: Filter system for capturing microplastic
OTTO opts for dispatch bags made of "wild" plastic
Since 2020, the mail-order company OTTO has been making partial use of packaging made of "wild" plastic from the Hamburg-based start-up Wildplastic that was collected from the environment. From 2021 to the end of 2023, OTTO collected around 308 tonnes of plastic waste from the environment for these dispatch bags, and thus saved 740,053 kg of carbon dioxide.
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DFG finances joint laboratory of the University of Dresden for microplastic research
The German Research Foundation (DFG) is to fund the equipping of a joint laboratory at the University of Applied Sciences in Dresden (HTWD) in the coming five years with sums amounting to 1 million euros. With the new equipment, research is to be intensified in the fields of microplastic, soil science, water management and vegetation technology, and the effects of plastics on the environment investigated.
Read more … DFG finances joint laboratory of the University of Dresden for microplastic research
Work starts on the material flow of plastics in Germany 2023
Over the coming months various statistics will be evaluated and, at the heart of the study, a questionaire will be sent to more than 2,000 companies involved in the fields of plastics production, processing and use. The new study plastics flow in Germany 2023 with data on production, processing, consumption, waste collection and recovery of plastics is expected to be published in September 2024.
Read more … Work starts on the material flow of plastics in Germany 2023
Deep-sea enzyme breaks down PET
Researchers from the universities of Kiel, Hamburg and Düsseldorf have, with the help of complex analysis methods, identified in a database with water specimens from all over the world an enzyme that stems from bacteria from prehistoric times – so-called archaea – in the deep waters off Venezuela. The newly discovered enzyme PET46 is said to be able, unlike the previously known biocatalysts with the ability to break down plastics, to withstand warm temperatures and consequently to break down the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic more quickly. According to the research team, this special characteristic and other biochemical properties make PET46 a highly interesting candidate to combat plastic pollution, both in the sea and on the land.
Study: Possibilities for the release of microplastic during recycling
According to a pilot study from a team of scientists at the Scottish University of Strathclyde in cooperation with universities in Canada, UK and New Zealand, there is a possibility that some of the microplastic in the environment could stem from the recycling of plastic waste. The research team concludes from the results of a study that plastics recycling plants could, alongside road traffic, be a significant cause of the planet’s microplastic contamination, and that the recycling of plastic waste should be fundamentally called into question. In order to evaluate the measurements taken at a Scottish recycling plant as well as the conclusions from the study, BKV’s latest study results concerning pellet losses in the industry in Germany were taken into account.
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Little progress with the US plastics agreement – producers call for increased efforts for INC-4
The member states of the United Nations want to put an end to environmental pollution through plastic waste by 2040. An initial draft for the agreement was presented at the third meeting of the inter-state negotiating committee that aimed to draw up an international legal instrument to combat plastic pollution (INC-3). The meeting was held from 13 – 19 November 2023 at the headquarters of the UN Environment Program (UNEP) in Nairobi, Kenya. Consensus on the next steps that were needed to draw up the agreement was, however, not reached in Nairobi. The biggest point of contention is whether the agreement should provide for a limit to the amount of plastics produced.
Restriction of microplastic and pellet losses
The sale of products with added microplastic or products that release microplastic during use is gradually being banned in the EU. In the first step, the sale of cosmetics with loose glitter or micro-beads, has already been prohibited. For other products – for example plastic granules that are used on sports grounds – transitional periods apply. Also under preparation are regulations from the European Commission on the limitation of pellet losses in the plastics-processing companies as can occur, for example, during the transport of plastic granules.