LABPLAS project

LABPLAS project is a 48-months EU-funded project whose vision is creating capacities (sampling, analysis and quantification techniques, new materials and new models) to evaluate rapidly and precisely the interactions of plastics with the environmental compartments and natural cycles leading to the development of effective mitigation and elimination measures, as well as, making management decisions. It will assess reliable identification methods for more accurate assessment of the abundance, distribution and toxicity determination of SMNP in the environment, giving the opportunity of new developments of cutting-edge technologies. It will also develop practical computational tools that up-scaled should allow European agencies to map plastic-impacted hotspots. The project will have a multi-actor approach, creating scientific knowledge with a partnership of scientists, technicians, research organizations and enterprises, working together towards the recognition at different levels (society, industry, policy) of the main issues (sources, potential biodegradability, ecotoxicology, ingestion, environmental assessment) related to the presence of plastics in ecosystems.