Do you consider it important to focus on the fight against plastic pollution?

Very important, especially considering that plastic production has gone from 2 million tons in 1950 to 450 million tons today. Of all the plastic produced, only 9-10% is recycled and 80% accumulates in the environment.
 

How can this problem be addressed from your research area ?

From the area of materials science, it is possible to identify plastics, study their microstructural characteristics, learn about their mechanical, thermal and optical properties, as well as the degradation processes they may undergo due to factors such as temperature, acidic and basic media, radiation at different wavelengths, mechanical grinding, bacteria and microorganisms, etc.
 

Are you participating in any project related to this issue? If not, what project would you like to implement to tackle plastic pollution?

Yes, in the period 2023-2025 we have had a Chemistry graduate (Leire Iturain Matute) with an Investigo contract, who has developed and fine-tuned innovative analytical methods for the identification of polymers and microplastics in environmental solid and liquid matrices. And now (period 2024-2028) we have a doctorate student (Garbiñe Larrea Goñi) whose doctoral thesis deals with microplastic extraction systems and processes of generation of microplastics by physical, chemical, biological and mechanical subject degradation.

* Adrián Durán is a researcher at BIOMA Institute. Learn more about his research.