Plastic in the Environment – Kick-off Conference of the BMBF Research Programme

Auftaktkonferenz BMBF-Forschungsschwerpunkt "Plastik in der Umwelt", Foto: Stephan Röhl

Plastic in the Environment – Kick-off Conference of the BMBF Research Programme

Event: Conference
Date: 17 - 18 October 2017
Location: Berlin, Germany

With a big conference in Berlin on the 17 and 18 Oktober 2017, the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF) launched its new comprehensive research programme "Plastic in the Environment – Sources • Sinks • Solutions." In this research programme, 18 research projects with around 100 partners from science, industry, associations and municipalities are exploring the following questions: What is the extent of plastic pollution globally, what are its causes and its effects? For the kickoff, representatives from all collaborative projects met in the "Umweltforum" in Berlin to present the individual projects, identify common challenges and develop cross-cutting themes for an exchange across consortia.

The aim of the research programme is to develop and establish scientific procedures, methods, instruments and concepts for the investigation of plastic in the environment. Overall, the programme shall

draw a consistent picture of the overall problem and make it the basis for action internationally,
identify, develop and implement solutions together with actors from politics, business and society, and
start cooperation projects to reduce the entrainment of plastic into the environment.

In total, the BMBF provides 35 million euros for the research programme, which makes the programme one of the world's largest research programmes on plastics. The collaborative research projects are running until 2021. First results are expected in the second half of 2018.

In order to support the transfer of research results into practice and the collaboration between the 18 individual research projects, there is an accompanying project called "PlastikNet", which is carried out by the Ecologic Institute and supervised by the Project Management Agency Karlsruhe (Projektträger Karlsruhe, PTKA). PlastikNet facilitates networking between the collaborative projects through conferences and theme-specific workshops and is involved in a cross-project-oriented synthesis of research results. In addition, the overall social and political impact of the research projects is to be increased through transfer activities.

German Federal Ministry for Education and Research launches comprehensive research programme on plastic in the environment

Contact

Doris Knoblauch

Co-Coordinator Plastics

Coordinator Urban & Spatial Governance

Senior Fellow

Towards an Effective Science-Policy Interface for a Global Plastics Treaty

Year 2024

Publication:Policy Brief

Amidst intense global efforts to tackle plastic pollution, the Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty highlights the critical role of reducing primary plastic polymers. The Scientists' Coalition, consisting of leading scientists worldwide, argues in its latest policy brief that without a significant reduction in the production of these polymers, the effective fight against plastic pollution is not possible. The urgent call aims to draw attention to the need to break the plastic cycle at its source - the production of primary plastic polymers. This approach is crucial as it directly reduces the amount of plastics that end up in our environment.

Primary Plastic Polymers: Urgently needed upstream reduction

Year 2024

Presentation:Speech

On 13 March 2024, Doris Knoblauch (Ecologic Institute) gave a lecture on "Plastics and the Environment" highlighting the need for a global plastics treaty at a postgraduate course, where 21 experts from ministries, authorities, municipalities, non-governmental organizations and industry from low-income countries and emerging economies were represented and exchanged. The focus was on why plastic pollution is a problem and why we urgently need an international, legally binding plastics treaty.

Plastics & the Environment – Why We Need a Plastics Treaty

13 March 2024
Doris Knoblauch

News

Doris Knoblauch was an observer at the negotiations in Nairobi during the week and, as part of the Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty (Scientist's Coalition for short), provided various negotiating delegations with scientific information. The Scientist's Coalition is an independent network of scientists around the world who conduct research on plastics, chemicals, and health, covering various disciplines and aspects. A team was on site to answer open questions quickly, scientifically and independently.

UN Negotiations on a Potential Plastics Agreement were Stuck in Nairobi

A long way to go

13 - 19 November 2023

Publication:Article

Plastics Treaty Text Must Center Ecosystems

Letter in Science

Year 2023

Publication:Article

This article illustrates the communication strategies that were successfully applied in the citizen science program Plastic Pirates in Germany. The program engages schoolchildren, teachers and youth groups in plastic pollution research. A variety of communication strategies have been implemented and continuously revised and adapted since the start of the program in 2016.

Sharing Communication Insights of the Citizen Science Program Plastic Pirates

Best practices from 7 years of engaging schoolchildren and teachers in plastic pollution research

Year 2023

News

Photo, taken during the plastic negotiations. Text "Help us to empower the independent voice of science by supporting our involvement in the plastics treaty negotiations" and a donation button

Ecologic Institute is a UN-accredited voice for a global plastics agreement. But we lack funding for the next decisive round of negotiations in Busan (South Korea) in November 2024. By participating, we are contributing to counteracting lobbying and enabling delegates to be properly informed. In Ottawa, we are currently providing specialist information on the effects of plastic production and consumption. Your donation will enable us to strengthen independent science and continue this important work!

Strengthen the Independent Voice of Science

Support our participation in the global plastics negotiations!

22 April 2024

News

After the euphoria had been dampened at the beginning of the negotiation week in Paris, there was a good result in the end: The Chair H.E. Mr. Gustavo Adolfo Meza-Cuadra Velasquez and the INC Secretariat were given a mandate to present a first draft ("zero draft") in the run-up to the next negotiations. This is an important next step. Doris Knoblauch accompanied the INC-2 negotiations in Paris for Ecologic Institute.

Why the Negotiations on the UN Plastics Agreement in Paris were a Success

An important step

29 May - 2 June 2023

Publication:Book

For many people, plastic bottles have become an indispensable part of everyday life. However, the production and throwing away of plastic bottles is harmful to the environment and the climate. Ideally, PET bottles are recycled and reused. But what happens to the bottles during the recycling process? "Die Geisterstunde" by Christian Tielmann is the third PIXI book produced as part of the BMBF research focus "Plastics in the Environment" with Stiftung Lesen and Carlsen Verlag and is dedicated to the recycling of plastic bottles.

Die Geisterstunde

Year 2023

Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany
Organizer: Ecologic Institute, Germany
Team: Doris Knoblauch

Dr. Ulf Stein

Linda Mederake

Hannes Schritt

Elena von Sperber

Jennifer Reck
Date: 17 - 18 October 2017
Location: Berlin, Germany
Language: German
Participants: 200
Project: Scientific Coordination of Research Projects on "Plastics in the Environment – Sources • Sinks • Solutions" (PlastikNet)
Project ID: 2295
Keywords: Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

Water

Plastics

Events

plastics, green economy, recycling, limnic systems, marine systems, consumption

Further Links

ProjectScientific Coordination of Research Projects on "Plastics in the Environment – Sources • Sinks • Solutions" (PlastikNet)

In the framework of the scientific accompanying research (PlastikNet) of the research focus "Plastics in the Environment – Sources • Sinks • Solutions" (Plastik in der Umwelt – Quellen • Senken • Lösungsansätze) Ecologic Institute coordinated 20 joint research projects,... Read more

Scientific Coordination of Research Projects on "Plastics in the Environment – Sources • Sinks • Solutions" (PlastikNet)

Duration: Sep 2017 - Jun 2023
Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany

Fona topic page: Plastic in the Environment [German]

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