Plastics

Runder Tisch Meeresmüll

muell-im-meer.de

The main objective of the platform is to provide organisational support for the German Roundtable on Marine Litter and its working groups. In addition, the public part of the platform serves public relations work and the bundling of information on marine litter. The Ecologic Institute developed this central German portal on marine litter technically, structurally and graphically to support the fulfilment of the tasks of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive with regard to marine litter and other international obligations (e.g. Action Plan on Marine Litter, OSPAR, HELCOM).Read more

Presentation

Speech

Global Environment

Ecologic Legal

Tackling Plastic Pollution – Introduction to Global Plastic Pollution and the Discussions at the International Level

TimeLoc

2 December 2019

Berlin

Germany

Doris Knoblauch

Dr. Stephan Sina

On 2 December 2019, Doris Knoblauch and Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellows at Ecologic Institute, held a presentation on "Tackling Plastic Pollution – Introduction to Global Plastic Pollution and the Discussions at the International Level" for 21 experts from ministries, authorities, local government, and non-governmental institutions of low-income countries, including newly industrialized economies.Read more

Publication

Regulation: Solutions at the Wrong End.

Plastic Atlas 2019: Facts and figures about the world of synthetic polymers

There are numerous regulatory approaches at the international, regional and national level regarding the handling of plastic products and plastic waste. What they all have in common is their limited effectiveness. Linda Mederake, Stephan Gürtler and Doris Knoblauch argue that this is partly due to the fact that at the international level a large number of binding agreements and voluntary initiatives have developed independently of one another and are therefore not coordinated in terms of content. The Plastics Atlas 2019 is available online.Read more

Publication

Shaping EU Plastic Policies

The Role of Public Health vs. Environmental Arguments

This article by Ecologic Institute's Linda Mederake and Doris Knoblauch uses a structuring qualitative content analysis to investigate the parliamentary debates of two recently adopted plastic policies in the EU – namely the EU Plastics Strategy and the Single-Use Plastics Directive – and assess the relevance of public health and environmental arguments for the EU debate.Read more

Presentation

Speech

Health

Micropollutants and Plastic in the Environment

TimeLoc

10 October 2019

Berlin

Germany

Dr. Ulf Stein

On 10 and 11 October 2019, experts from the Korean Environmental Ministry, Korean Environmental Industry & Technology Institute, Korean Institute of Analytical Science and Technology and the University of Seoul visited the Umweltbundesamt (UBA) and the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung (BAM) in Berlin. Together with colleagues from BAM, UBA and Ecologic Institute they presented and discussed current developments in research in Germany and Korea on micropollutants and plastic in the environment, especially in water and food. Ulf Stein from Ecologic Institute and deputy coordinator of the four-year project PlastikNet, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) presented on research activities of the research focus 'Plastics in the environment' in Germany.Read more

Publication

Ecologic Legal

A Treaty on Plastic Waste

Discussion paper

The discussion paper presents the rationale for a new treaty on tackling plastic waste and highlights its possible added value. The objective would be to reduce marine plastic litter through a comprehensive approach that also includes land-based sources, a life cycle approach to plastic and is open to future developments. The purpose would not be to prohibit plastics as such.Read more

Event

Microplastics in the Water Cycle (MiWA) – Final conference

TimeLoc

10 September 2019

Karlsruhe

Germany

On 10 September 2019, the final conference of the project "Mikroplastik im Wasserkreislauf" (Microplastics in the Water Cycle, MaWi for short) took place in Karlsruhe. The project results were presented and discussed at the event. A poster exhibition was also organized as part of the conference. Some of the posters are available on the event website.Read more

Event

Workshop

Consumer Policy

Governance

Plastic Regulation – Who is responsible?

TimeLoc

7 September 2019

Berlin

Germany

Speaker

Linda Mederake

There are numerous regulatory approaches for handling plastic products and plastic waste in various areas such as waste and recycling policy, marine protection or chemicals policy. During the workshop, Linda Mederake gave an insight into existing plastic regulations and initiatives at the international, European and national levels to reduce the amount of plastics entering the environment. She critically discussed what stages in the life cycle of plastics are targeted by political solutions and she also highlighted regulatory gaps.Read more

Presentation

Lecture

Coastal + Marine

Education

Plastics Crisis? – Advantages of plastics and the problems of plastic consumption

TimeLoc

29 May 2019

Berlin

Germany

Linda Mederake

Doris Knoblauch

On 29 May 2019, Doris Knoblauch and Linda Mederake, both scientific researchers at Ecologic Institute, were guest "professors" at the Nürti Üni, the pupils' university of the Nürtingen Primary School in Berlin Kreuzberg. They held a lecture on "Plastics Crisis – Advantages of Plastics and the Problems of Plastic Consumption". Read more

Presentation

Speech

Education