PLASTIMPACT (Fate and Impact of Plastics – from Macro to Nano – on Planetary Health) is an ENLIGHT Thematic Network (ETN). The main goal of PLASTIMACT is to build an interdisciplinary community across the ENLIGHT universities: the University of the Basque Country, University of Bern, University of Bordeaux, Comenius University Bratislava, University of Galway, Ghent University, University of Groningen, University of Tartu, and Uppsala University. The University of the Basque Country and the University of Bordeaux have previous strong links of collaboration in the field, as several research groups from the two universities conform the Laboratory for Transborder Cooperation AquEus (Towards a joint Aquitania-Euskadi research and higher education alliance to tackle potential risks posed by environmental and bio-based microplastics and nanoplastics in the Gulf of Biscay, AquEus. 

Plastic pollution is recognized as a global environmental challenge, due to its presence across marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. The PLASTIMPACT proposal stems from the recognition that risks posed by plastic pollution to the environment and human health need to be tackled on a planetary scale, by involving scientists, citizens, societal agents and governments.

The acronym PLASTIMPACT refers to both the huge impact of plastic pollution on our planet and the impact we would like to cause through this network.

Explore our main goals, main activities and thematic clusters to learn more about PLASTIMPACT.

Discover PLASTIMPACT through the ENLIGHT podcast episode “Tiny Plastics, Big Impact: Inside PLASTIMPACT Research”