MPI-P scientists take part in new research project “PlastX”
Together with two other research facilities, a team led by Dr. Frederik Wurm, project leader at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P), participates in the project “PlastX – Plastics as a systemic risk for social-ecological supply systems”. The junior research group supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMFB) investigates ways for a sustainable management of plastic and plastic waste. The scientists of the MPI-P focus their research on the chemical synthesis of new polymers, in order to develop biodegradable plastics that help to reduce the amount of plastic waste.
Synthetic materials play an important role in our daily lives – be it in the medical field, in the form of communication technologies or in the automobile sector. However, when not degraded properly, plastics can leave considerable environmental traces. To identify possible alternatives and find better ways of managing our society’s usage of plastic, the Institute for Social-Ecological Research and the Goethe University Frankfurt have joined forces with the MPI-P in the project PlastX. Moreover, another goal of this junior research project is to train young scientists in transdisciplinary research. Thus, within the framework of five years, PhD students of biology, chemistry, geography and sociology work together focusing on such diverse fields as packaging, consumption, risk assessment of microplastics in rivers and management strategies for plastic waste in the oceans. “In my research group we have been analyzing degradable polymers for years – precisely this knowledge we can now contribute to the transdisciplinary project,” explains Wurm.
About the project
The junior research group is funded by the BMBF as part of the program “Research for Sustainable Development (FONA). Here, PlastX is part of the funding measure “SÖF – Social-Ecological Research” in the funding area “Junior research groups in the field of social-ecological research.”
