Wege zum nachhaltigen Umgang mit Kunststoffen

Doris Knoblauch; Mandy Hinzmann; Linda Mederake; Katharina Beyerl; Franz Bogner; Maria Daskalakis; Thomas Decker; Anja Hentschel; Bastian Loges; Ruth Müller; Frieder Rubik; Stefan Schweiger; Immanuel Stieß

Wege zum nachhaltigen Umgang mit Kunststoffen

Kernbotschaften sozialwissenschaftlicher Forschung

Publication: Article
Citation: Beyerl, Katharina; Bogner, Franz; Daskalakis, Maria; Decker, Thomas; Hentschel, Anja; Hinzmann, Mandy; Loges, Bastian; Knoblauch, Doris; Mederake, Linda; Müller,, Ruth; Rubik, Frieder; Schweiger, Stefan; Stieß, Immanuel (2022): Wege zum nachhaltigen Umgang mit Kunststoffen: Kernbotschaften sozialwissenschaftlicher Forschung. GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 31(1), 51-53.

The emission of plastics into the environment is growing worldwide. Since existing regulations are not sufficient to curb the problem, the ever-increasing plastic production and use must be reduced overall. A systemic approach is needed that holds all actors responsible who produce, use, recycle, dispose and trade in plastic products and packaging. Policymakers must drive forward the necessary paradigm shift and facilitate a debate on sufficiency in society as a whole.

The article summarises the results of the social science research within the research focus "Plastics in the Environment" in eleven key messages.

Consumers cannot solve the plastics crisis on their own – companies, policymakers, and administrations are equally responsible.

Contact

Doris Knoblauch

Co-Coordinator Plastics

Coordinator Urban & Spatial Governance

Senior Fellow

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

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

Publication:Book

Plastics shape our modern life like hardly any other material. They are flexible, light, and versatile. At the same time, they also represent one of the greatest ecological challenges of our time. To make this topic clear and understandable for children and to convey the relevant knowledge, Ecologic Institute and Stiftung Lesen, together with Carlsen Verlag, have developed this special edition of Lesemaus.

Alte Flaschen, neue Flaschen!

A Lesemaus on the subject of recycling

Year 2023

Presentation:Lecture

On 29 March 2023, Doris Knoblauch and Mandy Hinzmann gave a lecture on "Plastics and the Environment" in a postgraduate course, where 19 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 reducing plastics in the environment, on different responsibilities and concerns from a global perspective on the one hand, and on the textile sector on the other hand.

Plastics & The Environment – Responsibilities and Implications Between North and South

29 March 2023
Doris Knoblauch

Event:Digital Event

On 19 May 2020, Doris Knoblauch moderated a media training for the research focus "Plastics in the Environment". The journalist Ralf Nestler provided the content input. In addition to his work at the Tagesspiegel, he also worked as a scientist at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam. Nestler thus knows both sides of the relationship between science and journalism.

How to Get My Research Topic into the Media – And how to keep control over the issue coverage?

Media training PlastikNet

19 May 2020
online

Language: German
Authorship: Doris Knoblauch

Mandy Hinzmann

Linda Mederake

Katharina Beyerl

Franz Bogner

Maria Daskalakis

Thomas Decker

Anja Hentschel

Bastian Loges

Ruth Müller

Frieder Rubik

Stefan Schweiger

Immanuel Stieß
Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany
Published in: GAIA – Ecological Perspectives on Science and Society
Published by: oekom verlag, Germany
Year: 2022
Dimension: 3 pp.
ISSN: 0940-5550 (Print); ISSN 2625-5413 (Online)
DOI: 10.14512/gaia.31.1.12
Project: Scientific Coordination of Research Projects on "Plastics in the Environment – Sources • Sinks • Solutions" (PlastikNet)
Project ID: 2295
Keywords: Plastics

plastic prevention, plastics, plastics regulation, social science research

Germany

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Further Links

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

PublicationInfographicPlastik in der Umwelt: Sozialwissenschaftliche Forschung – Infographic

This infographic illustrates the research objects of the joint research projects with a social science component in the research focus "Plastics in the Environment" along the value chain and with a view to the addressed societal sectors. In addition, the graph indicates... Read more

Ecologic Institute 2019: Plastik in der Umwelt: Sozialwissenschaftliche Forschung. Überblick über Forschungsgegenstände, Ergebnisarten und Zielgruppen der Projekte mit sozialwissenschaftlichem Anteil im BMBF-Forschungsschwerpunkt "Plastik in der Umwelt". Infographic.

PublicationPosterPlastics in the Environment: Social Science Research – Poster Series

How is a topic such as microplastics socially problematised? How can consumers use plastics more sustainably? And what role do the interests and perceptions of different actors play in international plastics regulation? These and other questions are posed by social... Read more

Ecologic Institute 2019: Plastik in der Umwelt: Sozialwissenschaftliche Forschung. Überblick über Forschungsgegenstände, Ergebnisarten und Zielgruppen der Projekte mit sozialwissenschaftlichem Anteil im BMBF-Forschungsschwerpunkt "Plastik in der Umwelt". PlastikNet Poster Series. Poster.

PublicationArticleMehr Kohärenz bitte!

This article (written in German) examines various policies and approaches that are currently being implemented or planned as solutions to the plastics crisis. It becomes clear that in national and international policies plastics are mainly described as a problem of... Read more

Mederake, L., Araujo Sosa, A. und Hirschnitz-Garbers, M. (2020): Mehr Kohärenz bitte! Plastikpolitik in Deutschland, Europa und weltweit. Politische Ökologie, Band 161, 76-82.

PublicationArticleRegulation: Solutions at the Wrong End.

Heinrich Boell Foundation

There are numerous regulatory approaches at international, regional and national level regarding the handling of plastic products and plastic waste. What they all have in common is their limited effectiveness. In their contribution, Linda Mederake, Stephan Gürtler and... Read more

Mederake, Linda; Gürtler, Stephan; Knoblauch, Doris (2019): Regulation: Solutions at the Wrong End. In: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung und BUND – Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (Eds.): Plastic Atlas 2019. Facts and figures about the world of synthetic polymers. Berlin.

PublicationBook SectionPlastikvermeidung auf kommunaler Ebene

oekom Verlag

The discussion about plastic waste is anything but new for German municipalities. In fact, as early as the 1980s, numerous German municipalities were experimenting with plastic waste prevention regulations and waste prevention in general. A further impetus for plastic... Read more

Mederake, Linda; Seeger, Dorothea (2020): Plastikvermeidung auf kommunaler Ebene. In: Kröger, Melanie; Pape, Jens; Wittwer, Alexandra (Hrsg.) (2020): Einfach weglassen? Ein wissenschaftliches Lesebuch zur Reduktion von Plastikverpackungen im Lebensmittelhandel. ISBN: 978-3-96238-243-8. Oekom Verlag, München.

PublicationReportHintergrundpapier: Plastikpolitik in Deutschland und der EU

Plastic pollution – especially the dramatic littering of the oceans – and the public concerns about it have powerfully brought the issue on the European and German political agenda. Since then, there have been a whole series of new initiatives to regulate plastics -... Read more

Mederake, Linda; Hinzmann, Mandy; Langsdorf, Susanne (2020): Hintergrundpapier: Plastikpolitik in Deutschland und der EU. Ecologic Institut: Berlin.

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