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🌟 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 — 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐧. 🍽️

Everyday kitchen tools, like plastic cutting boards, can shed tiny plastic particles during normal use. 🧼🔪 Boards made from polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) gradually wear down with cutting and abrasion, releasing micro-sized plastic fragments.

Even simple tasks like chopping vegetables can contribute to this hidden source of microplastics. 🥕🧅 Over time, some particles may end up in food 🍲, while others can be rinsed into the drain 🚰 and eventually reach the environment 🌍. A reminder that our kitchens aren’t always as “safe” as we assume.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 ✅
• Choose more durable materials when possible (for example, wood or glass) 🪵🥛
• Replace boards once they are heavily scarred, rough, or visibly worn ♻️
• Clean and maintain boards regularly to limit additional wear 🧽✨

𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐝 𝐮𝐩 — 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 🌍💚

Exciting news! This week, 5 Gyres’ Microplastics Scientist, Dr. Victoria Fulfer, is heading to Antarctica! ❄️🔬

Before heading south, she painted a picture of what the journey has in store. She’ll be collecting samples from the water, soil, and air to better understand how microplastics travel, settle, and persist, even in the most remote places on Earth.

Will she find microplastics? Stay tuned for more updates from the field! 🐧

🎨:

𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺.🌍
They are in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the products we use every day.

The European Environment Agency estimates that 0.75–2 million tonnes of microplastics were unintentionally released into the EU environment in 2022 📊, an increase compared to recent years.

That scale makes one thing clear: 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧-𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥. And 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗘𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡🎓.

Most microplastics come from everyday systems we all rely on:
🎨 paint weathering,
🚗 tyre wear,
🔴 plastic pellet losses during transport,
👕 fibres released from textiles.

Reducing these emissions 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬:
• awareness in schools and communities,
• practical knowledge for households,
• upskilling for professionals and organizations,
• evidence-based teaching materials for educators 📚.

( ) supports this shift ♻️.
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧, 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞-𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲.

Explore the resources: 👉 https://microplastics.today/

𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

The Edu4plastiC consortium, togheter with I&S Company and four prestigious academic institutions: the University of Insubria, the University of Trento, the National University of Mongolia (NUM) and the Mongolian University of Life Sciences (MULS), decided to colaborate to tackle the global challenge of polymer pollution and to fosters a new generation of environmentally conscious professionals.
• University of Insubria & University of Trento: as leaders in environmental chemistry, engineering, and sustainability, can provide scientific supervision and methodological frameworks.
• National University of Mongolia (NUM) & Mongolian University of Life Sciences (MULS): could lead monitoring and data collection, focusing on microplastic contamination in water resources and the food chain within Mongolia’s extreme climatic conditions.
• I&S Company (https://www.ies.it/): could implement the engineering solutions to collect and transform plastic waste into secondary raw materials.
• Edu4plastiC (https://microplastics.today/): could provide educational courses, dissemination of the research findings and arise the environmental awareness through specialized digital tools: https://elearningproject.eu/courses/edu4plasticircular-educating-for-sustainable-plastic-use-and-circular-economy/.

Let's make a better, cleaner and environmentally friendly World !

🌿 January 26 – Environmental Education Day
A reminder that the future of our planet depends on the choices we make every single day. Plastic, once a solution, has become one of the greatest threats to ecosystems, human health, and the generations to come.
♻️ Let’s act, not just observe.
The academic community has the power to turn knowledge into real change.
📘 Explore the resources developed through the ERASMUS+ EDU4PlastiCircular project:
🔗 https://microplastics.today/
🎓 Take the digital course and earn a certificate that confirms your awareness of the environmental and health impacts of plastics, waste management solutions, and sustainable alternatives:
🔗 https://elearningproject.eu/courses/edu4plasticircular-educating-for-sustainable-plastic-use-and-circular-economy/
🌍 Together, we can reduce plastic pollution and build a cleaner future.

EDU4PlastiCircular: Educating for Sustainable Plastic Use and Circular Economy — Elearningproject.eu Introduction Plastics are everywhere in our daily lives. Their production has grown exponentially worldwide over the past two decades, except during the recent pandemic period. Under the EU Green Deal (EGD), 55% of plastic packaging must be recycled by 2030 to reduce not only its ecological footprin...

An institutional meeting was held between the University of Insubria and the Municipality of Lecco, attended by the Mayor of Lecco, Mauro Gattinoni, and the Councillor for the Environment, Renata Zuffi. The University of Insubria was represented by a delegation from the Environmental Engineering programme, including Prof. Elena Cristina Rada and PhD student Lucrezia Maggi.
The meeting provided an opportunity to strengthen dialogue between academia and local government on key environmental challenges and sustainable development strategies. Particular emphasis was placed on the Municipality of Lecco’s long-standing commitment to environmental sustainability and its active support for educational and awareness-raising initiatives. Among these, special attention was given to Edu4PlastiC initiative (https://microplastics.today), an educational programme designed to promote responsible plastic consumption, improve recycling practices, and foster greater environmental awareness among citizens.
The discussion highlighted the strategic value of structured and continuous cooperation between universities and local authorities, recognizing the role of scientific research, technical expertise, and education in supporting evidence-based policymaking.
Both institutions expressed a shared interest in developing future collaborations, joint projects, and outreach activities aimed at enhancing environmental protection, circular economy and sustainable practices, and community engagement at the local level.

Today, January 20th, the UPV team discussed whether the book in the Spanish language

At Insubria University recent academic and educational initiatives are demonstrating how innovation, research, and education can significantly reduce the environmental footprint of plastics while maintaining their critical role in modern society.

Today professors from Insubria University, Italy, Politehnica University Valencia, Spain, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Greece together with LATI – Thermoplatisc Materials SPA, Italy participated to PhD defence entitled “Environmental Sustainability of High-Performance Thermoplastic Materials”, and discusseed together with the Italian and Spanish team of the EDU4PlastiCircular – Education for Plastic in a Circular and Climate Neutral Economy initiative.

Togheter they highlighed the need to commit to prevent plastic waste from ending up in the environment and to accelerate the transition towards a circular and climate-neutral plastics economy.

They also agree that while technological innovation is essential, the transition to a circular and climate-neutral plastics economy cannot succeed without education and skills development.

https://elearningproject.eu/all-courses/?course_catid=530

📢 EDU4PlastiCircular Newsletter #8 Is Out (July–November 2025) 🌍♻️

We are pleased to announce the release of the 8th edition of the EDU4PlastiCircular Newsletter, featuring key project activities, research highlights, and developments from July to November 2025 📘

This issue includes:
🔵 updates on European policies and global trends related to the plastic circular economy 🇪🇺
🔵 education, training, and dissemination activities across partner countries 🎓
🔵 research insights on plastics, microplastics, and their impacts on the environment and human health 🔬
🔵 the first EDU4PlastiCircular Learning, Teaching and Training Activity (LTTA1) held in Romania 🤝
🔵 promotion of the EDU4PlastiCircular e-learning platform and open educational resources 💻
🔵 inspiring examples of partner initiatives and good practices 🌱

EDU4PlastiCircular continues to strengthen the link between education, research, and real-world impact, supporting the transition toward a circular and climate-neutral plastic economy 🌍♻️

📖 Read the latest newsletter and join us on the path toward a more sustainable future:https://microplastics.today/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/EDU4PlastiC-Newsletter-8.pdf

At Insubria University the students from the carieer of “Engineering for Workplace and Environmental Safety” debated about sustainable packaging and environmental awareness, encouraging responsible choices during the Winter Festive Season.
The invitation for all is to ernrol and gain more awarness thanks to the course “EDU4PlastiCircular: Educating for Sustainable Plastic Use and Circular Economy”: https://elearningproject.eu