The widespread use of plastics, the mass consumption of disposable plastic products and the longevity of plastics lead to a waste volume that can hardly be managed anymore. Many people are particularly alarmed by the pollution of the oceans by microplastics and plastic waste. Despite all this, the volume of packaging per capita continues to rise and has doubled over the last twenty years – to 213 kilograms in 2015. The intense public debate has also called for a political response: A European plastics strategy is currently aimed at banning straws and plastic tableware. But can this solve the environmental problem? How serious are the effects of plastic waste and microplastics on the environment? What are the right steps to take to reduce the impact on the environment and the use of plastics?

This event of the Ecornet Future Forum contributes to this discussion with information from current scientific analyses and creates a framework for political exchange.

About the event series Zukunftsforum Ecornet

Future: The term "Future" has long become a central concept in environmental and sustainability policy debates. Whereas in the past threat scenarios dominated the debate, today the focus is increasingly on the possibilities for shaping the future: What kind of world do we want to make possible for present and future generations?

Forum: Shaping an ecologically sustainable and socially equitable future can only succeed through conversations between politics, science, business and civil society. Ecornet aims to bring together the various actors and offer them a forum for jointly tackling the social problems of our time.

Ecornet: Concrete social problems require concrete proposals for solutions. Ecornet aims to help shape social change towards sustainability and to provide the required scientific basis for this purpose. With thematic and methodological diversity and work at the interfaces between science and society, the eight Ecornet institutes provide answers to the pressing questions of our time.