World Environment Day
June 5, 2025
#PlasticPollutionFree
Every year, more than 400 million tons of plastic more than 400 million tons of plastic and it is believed that half of this material half of this material is thought to be designed for a single-use single-use life.
Recycling
Less than 10% is recycled.
Waste
An estimated 11 million tons of plastic waste end up in lakes, rivers and seas each year.
Invasion
Microplastics also invade food, water and even the air.
Faced with this global problem, the BIOMA Institute is focusing on a research multidisciplinary to address this issue from a scientific, social and ethical perspective.
Six centers, six voices
"In 1950, we produced about 2 million tons of plastic per year; today we produce more than 450 million tons. Faced with this environmental challenge, materials science has become a core topic: it allows us to identify the different types of plastics and understand how they behave at the microscopic level. Thanks to this, we can study new degradation strategies and develop new, more sustainable materials, providing solutions that reduce their impact on the planet.
David Durán
School of Science
"Microplastics and nanoplastics can enter the food chain and reach our bodies through food consumption, water and even inhalation. From toxicology focused on human health we can investigate how these particles can damage DNA or interfere with the repair mechanisms of genetic material."
Ariane Vettorazzi
School of Pharmacy and Nutrition
"From the research group on Science Communication we focus on studying the strategies that are most effective in raising public awareness about environmental issues such as plastic pollution. In this way, we can apply these strategies in the design of messages aimed at generating a movement and a change in the vision of society".
Welcome León
School of Communication
"Plastics are also building materials. They are part of frequently used products such as insulation materials, waterproof sheets, pipes, meshes or coatings. Our team has developed projects such as the development of paper solutions to replace plastic materials in anti-infiltration sheets for buildings. This is just one example of numerous actions that we can carry out from materials science and architecture".
Joaquin Torres
School of Architecture
"In the last 20 years plastic production has doubled, between 1 and 2 million tons end up in the oceans and less than 10% of plastic is properly recycled. Our research is oriented towards the development of
methods to help the sustainable management of organizations and companies at nano, micro, meso and macro levels, both in the production, consumption and recovery of materials and plastic compounds."
Carmen Jaca
Tecnun. School of Engineering
"In nature, what is no longer useful to one becomes wealth for another. In disposable culture, what is no longer useful to one becomes a problem for another. Plastic pollution is perhaps one of the most visible signs of a culture that resorts to discarding more often than caring. If we really want to put an end to plastic pollution, we have to start with a change of mentality, which involves a change of heart".
Ana Villarroya
Society and Environmental Culture Unit. BIOMA Institute
Two branches of the same tree
The air we breathe: the invisible threat of microplastics
Yasser Morera
status of the plastics
plastic sector in Gipuzkoa
Marta Ormazabal
Plastics under the microscope of the BIOMA Institute
Yasser Morera
School of Sciences
Garbiñe Larrea
School of Sciences
Jesús Miguel Santamaría
School of Sciences
Ariane Vettorazzi
School of Pharmacy and Nutrition
David Elustondo
School of Sciences
M.E. González Peñas
School of Pharmacy and Nutrition
area of Sustainable Agriculture and Agroecology
"The use of conventional plastics in greenhouses, irrigation systems or fertilizer coatings generates large amounts of waste that degrade slowly in the environment. Therefore, it is crucial to develop alternatives with biodegradable materials to reduce dependence on synthetic polymers and promote a more circular and environmentally friendly agriculture."
Nieves Goicoechea
School of Sciences
Marta Fuentes
School of Sciences
Maria Garnica
School of Sciences
Inmaculada Pascual
School of Sciences
Johann Martinez-Lüscher
School of Sciences
area of Sustainability and Circular Economics
"Moving from a linear to a circular model is essential to address the plastics problem. This means redesigning value chains, encouraging the reuse and recovery of materials, and promoting industrial symbiosis solutions that allow resources to be exchanged between companies and sectors. From construction to engineering, including business management , circularity appears to be an effective cross-cutting strategy".
Adrian Duran
School of Sciences
Andrés J. Guízar Dena
School of Architecture
César Martín Gómez
School of Architecture
Carmen Jaca
Tecnun. School of Engineering
Marta Ormazabal
Tecnun. School of Engineering
Joaquín Torres Ramo
School of Architecture
Laura Cristina Ramirez
Tecnun. School of Engineering
Rafael Iván Mora
Tecnun. School of Engineering
Society and Environmental Culture Unit
"The fight against plastic pollution reveals itself not only as a technical challenge, but as a symptom of a deeper problem: our way of living, relating to and valuing the world. We need an ethical and cultural transformation that allows us to learn to turn waste into care, and carelessness into responsibility."
Ana Villarroya
BIOMA Institute
Bienvenido León
School of Communication
Miguel Pérez de Laborda
School of Sciences
Enrique Baquero
School of Sciences