Let's do it!

Get Ready for World Cleanup Day 2018!

Let’s Do It! World is a civic-led mass movement that began in Estonia in 2008 when 50,000 people united together to clean up the entire country in just five hours. Since then, Let’s Do It! has spread this model—one country in one day—around the world. To date, 113 countries and over 16 million people have joined us to clean up illegal waste.

On September 15, 2018, World Cleanup Day, people in 150 countries will stand up against the global trash problem and clean up waste, making it the biggest positive civic action the world has seen. Imagine a powerful “green wave” starting in New Zealand and ending in Hawaii with hundred of millions of people taking positive action together on the very same day.

Let’s Do It! has never been only about cleaning up waste. We also aim to unite the global community, raise awareness and implement true change to achieve our final goal– a clean and healthy planet.

[Source: https://www.letsdoitworld.org/about/overview/]

Interested in learning more? Visit the Let's do it! homepage to learn about upcoming events, or take a look at the interactive world map to see if there already is an active Let's do it! team in your home country!

[Image Source: https://www.letsdoitworld.org/]

1st PHA Platform World Congress

Call for Parers and Registration Opened Now!

September 04-05, 2018
Cologne, Germany

PHA - bioplastics with future ...

PHA (Poly-Hydroxy-Alkanoates or polyhydroxy fatty acids) is a family of biobased polyesters. As in many mammals, including humans, that hold energy reserves in the form of body fat there are also bacteria that hold intracellular reserves of polyhydroxy alkanoates. Here the micro-organisms store a particularly high level of energy reserves (up to 80% of their own body weight) for when their sources of nutrition become scarce. Examples for such Polyhydroxyalkanoates are PHB, PHV, PHBV, PHBH and many more. That’s why we speak about the PHA platform.

This PHA-platform is made up of a large variety of bioplastics raw materials made from many different renewable resources. Depending on the type of PHA, they can be used for applications in films and rigid packaging, biomedical applications, automotive, consumer electronics, appliances, toys, glues, adhesives, paints, coatings, fibers for woven and non-woven and inks. So PHAs cover a broad range of properties and applications.

That’s why bioplastics MAGAZINE and Jan Ravenstijn are now organizing the 1st PHA-platform World Congress on 4-5 September 2018 in Cologne / Germany.

This congress will address the progress, challenges and market opportunities for the formation of this new polymer platform in the world. Every step in the value chain will be addressed. Raw materials, polymer manufacturing, compounding, polymer processing, applications, opportunities and after-use or end-of-life options will be discussed by parties active in each of these areas. Progress in underlying technology challenges will also be addressed.

When there is sufficient interest there will be a workshop on the basics of the PHA-platform in the afternoon of September 3rd, preceding the conference.

Call for papers now open.

Registration and Image source: http://www.bioplasticsmagazine.com/en/kontakt/1PHA_registration.php

5th General Assembly held in Strasbourg

On the 20th and 21st of September 2017, P4SB held its 5th General Assembly in Strasbourg. During this highly successful meeting, the attending participants defined the project's goals for the next 18 months.

The General Assembly had all of the project partners in attendance, with the exception of BacMine. Many thanks go to everyone involved for an enjoyable, productive, well-organized meeting in a great location, and especially to SOPREMA for so kindly hosting the event in their rooms.

 

 

New Radio Report Featuring Prof. Lars Blank and Dr. Nick Wierckx

Image: Tragetaschen aus Biokunststoff (dpa / picture alliance / Bernd Settnik)

Prof. Lars Blank and Dr. Nick Wierckx from RWTH have been interviewed for a radio report from Deutschlandfunk to give their opinion about bioplastics. Read this interview on this webpage.

You can also listen to the full report by clicking on "Hören" in the right corner of the first picture on the Deutschlandfunk webpage. You can hear the Aachen team in minute 18.

 

New Article Featuring Global Analysis of All Mass-Produced Plastics

Check out this interesting publication dealing with the first global analysis of all mass-produced plastics ever manufactured!

For more information also visit our Facebook page, or read the online publication itself!

UCD Dublin takes part in ESBP 2017

Niall Beagan gives poster presentation at 9th European Symposium on Biopolymers

At this year's European Symposium on Biopolymers (ESBP 2017), the P4SB Project was well-represented: Not only attended CSIS the event in Tolouse this July, but the UCD Dublin, too, had Niall Beagan in attendance, who presented a poster on behalf of himself and his colleages at UCD.

The poster focused on 'The conversion of polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) monomers into polyhydroxyalkanoate', and can be seen here!

 For more Information about this presentation and the ESBP 2017, check out the ESBP Homepage or the P4SB Facebook!

Partner CSIC Presents at ESBP 2017

Dr. M. Auxiliadora Prieto gives keynote presentation on July 5th, 2017

P4SB-project Partner CSIC participated in the 9th European Symposium on Biopolymers in Toulouse last week, where they gave the following presentations:

  • Manoli, M.-T.; Nogales, J.; Prieto, A. System analysis of the PHA cycle with a focus on PhaZ in the metabolic robustness of Pseudomonas putida.
  • Prieto, A. An updated view on medium-chain length polyhydroxyalkanoate production.
  • Mato, A.; Tarazona, N.; Hidalgo, A.; Cruz, A.; Jiménez, M.; Rivas, G.; Pérez Gil, J.; Prieto, A. Phasins at hydrophylic-hydrophobic interfaces: a promising tool for new biotechnological applications.

Curious? You can learn more about this event on the ESBP 2017 Webpage, or at the P4SB Facebook page!

Where plastic waste comes from

Look at this interactive world map to see, which countries pollute our oceans the most.

http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mensch

Reducing plastic waste!

A small but nice idea to prevent microplastic released from washing from entering into rivers and oceans.

http://guppyfriend.com/

Interview with Prof. Blank!

Prof. Lars Blank from RWTH Aachen University has been interviewed by WIRED, an American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics about the degradation of plastic by bacteria and caterpillars.

https://www.wired.de/collection/science