Plastics Accumulatie Indicator
(Illustration: WUR)
January 30, 2025 – All over the world, plastics end up in nature, whether intentionally or not. This may be because the plastic is used in the natural environment (like agricultural plastics), as the result of wear and tear (car tyres, for example) or when it is littered. If the plastic does not subsequently biodegrade, it will accumulate in nature: in the form of large pieces to microplastics. Often the biodegradation process is very slow, with more plastic accumulating in the meantime. Except: not every type of plastic contributes equally to that accumulation. Rapidly biodegradable plastics disappear much faster than traditional plastics. How do you map that degradation and the effect on accumulation? Together with their team at Wageningen University & Research (WUR), researchers Marieke Brouwer and Evelien Maaskant have developed a model to do just that.
