New blog post about the political potentials in the apparent privatization of responsibility for plastic reduction is online at Soziologieblog.
For the 30th anniversary of the producer market at Konstablerwache in Frankfurt, PlastX collaborated with Ernährungsrat Frankfurt.
The PlastX research group detects thousands of chemicals in plastic products—three out of four products contain harmful substances.
Translation from the German version originally published in Knackpunkt, April 2019, Vol. 2 (27)
In the summersemester 2019 the lecture series Living in the Plastic Age. Perspectives from the Humanities, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences will take place at the Goethe-University in Frankfurt.
Translation from the German version originally published in Knackpunkt, February 2019, Vol. 1 (27)
18 March 2019
Germany: World champion in packaging? How can a conscious use of plastic be achieved throughout Germany?
Fruits roll loosely over the conveyor belt at the grocery checkout. Fresh bread lies in the cotton bag. A darkened milk bottle jingles against yoghurt glasses. Silke Bröhl gets astonished glances at her shopping regularly.
Transdisciplinary collaboration with societal actors is a major trend in sustainability research. However, looking at the concrete practice regarding scientific conferences and publications, …
Lukas from PlastX reports from the Second Congress of the German-speaking Food Councils from 23rd to 25th November in Frankfurt/Main. …
We had the chance to visit the Our Ocean Conference, which took place this year on October 29. and 30. in Bali, Indonesia. The conference, …
“Planet Plastic” is the title of the latest WWF magazine (04/2018). The magazine’s main focus is on marine plastic litter, …
mit Interesse an empirischer Sozialforschung.
Inhaltliche Schwerpunkte der Arbeit sind die Unterstützung bei der Auswertung eines quantitativen Fragebogens zu Plastikmüll in Asien, die Aufbereitung von quantitativen und qualitativen Daten mit MAXQDA und SPSS/Prism, …
19 July 2018
Citizens University’s event “Life in the Plastic Age – can we use plastics in a sustainable way?”
On June 28th, the PlastX group hosted the Frankfurt Citizens University’s event “Life in the Plastic Age – how can we use plastics in a sustainable way?” at the Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE).
Call for Participation: We are thrilled to announce the summer school “Brilliant Minds for Social-Ecological Transformations” organized by PlastX researchers together with the ISOE – Institute of Social-Ecological Research!
In his recent Viewpoint in Environmental Science and Technology, G. Allen Burton asks why “fellow scientists continue to focus on superficial microplastics risks” as “low exposure concentrations dictate there could be no risk”.
Vietnam gained dubious fame: Its one of the top five countries contributing most to marine litter. So, what’s the case? Insights from my first field study: The case of Phu Quoc.
Johanna and Carolin have published an article in the special issue “Seas and Oceans” of Aus Politik- und Zeitgeschichte (APuZ) discussing how science has discovered the phenomenon of garbage patches in the oceans and how microplastics are negotiated at the interface of science and society.
The diagnosis that we are living in a world-risk society formulated by Ulrich Beck twenty years ago (Beck 1996) has lost nothing of its power, especially against the background of the Anthropocene debate. “Global risks” have been identified which are caused by human activities, technology and modernization processes. Microplastics are a byproduct of exactly these modernization processes, being distributed globally by physical processes like ocean currents, and causing effects far from their place of origin.
A Plastic Ocean is one of the latest documentaries on the plastic pollution in the environment. PlastX in collaboration with the Orfeos Erben Cinema is screening the movie and discussing it afterwards. Join us on Thursday 4th of May, 8:15pm at Orfeos Erben Cinema in Frankfurt.
Carolin Völker, PlastX co-leader, in the interview with Technology Review about microplastics.
Which (unnecessary) packaging frustrates consumers and why? What are responses from producers and suppliers? The consumer association “Verbraucherzentrale Nordrhein-Westfalen” ran a campaign on occasion of the European Week for Waste Reduction 2016 to address these questions.
With headlines like “Clothing from ocean plastic” companies indicate that they turn marine debris into new products and seem to demonstrate their eco-friendliness and sustainability. Recycling of plastics into clothing is not new: Since more than 15 years used plastic bottles have been utilized to produce new textiles; but over the years technologies got better and now even shoes can be made from recycled plastic. Is this media-effective topic only exploited for marketing purposes or does ”clothing from ocean plastic” really help to tackle global plastic pollution?
The European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) aims to mobilize actors to implement awareness raising actions on waste reduction, product reuse and materials recycling. It takes place from the 19th to the 27th of November 2016 across Europe. This years’ Prevention Thematic Day is revolving around “Packaging Waste Reduction – Use Less Packaging!”
Today this press release has been published:
Plastic is part of our daily lives. It can be used in various way, it is robust and cheap to produce. But plastic is mainly made from mineral oil and as a waste product it pollutes the environment. Which role does this ambivalent material play within society and what are its environmental impacts? The junior research group “PlastX” which is funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) investigates how it may be possible to sustainably deal with plastic.
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