The General Assembly of the PTI+ SusPlast was held at the CIB Margarita Salas on November 20 and 21

The fifth edition of the PTI+ SusPlast General Assembly was held in a hybrid format in the Assembly Hall of the Margaritas Salas Center for Biological Research (CIB-CSIC) on November 20-21, 2024. The platform's groups shared the advances in their research during the last year, and the strategic plan of PTI+ for the next year, 2025, was presented and discussed at the meeting.

During the two days of this meeting, the groups explained and discussed the progress and future steps of their research in the different thematic areas of the platform on plastic and bioplastic management: biotechnological approaches, chemical approaches, health and environment, regulation, and certification.

The Annual Assembly was opened by Carmen Gómez Guillén, Member of the "Life" Area Commission and representative of the CSIC's Deputy Vice-Presidency for Scientific and Technical Areas (VAACT), who highlighted the general importance of the PTIs and other CSIC initiatives such as HUBs and Conexiones, to promote, among others, public-private collaboration and drive innovation in the field of sustainable plastics. Subsequently, SusPlast coordinators and its management team welcomed all participants and congratulated all the groups for their work in the PTI+.

Firstly, Auxiliadora Prieto, coordinator of the platform, highlighted that the PTI+ currently has 40 CSIC research groups, and has reinforced the image of the CSIC as a scientific-technical platform to manage plastic pollution and move towards a future focused on the circular economy. She also highlighted the recent installation of four pilot plants thanks to the financial support of the European Union Recovery and Resilience Fund, which will allow responding to project calls in collaboration with the industry.

Subsequently, the presentations of the four pilot plants installed at the CIB-CSIC, ICTP-CSIC, and IATA-CSIC took place, describing their equipment, the current status of the facilities, and the regulation of access to the services available.

Finally, Juan Rodríguez, deputy coordinator of SusPlast, informed the platform members of the activities carried out in the context of science to public policies. Specifically, SusPlast is involved in consultancies led by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO) related to the UN resolution for developing a binding legal instrument to end plastic pollution worldwide.

Thereafter, presentations by the groups involved in the areas of “Environmental impact and toxicity of plastics in natural environments”, “Impact of plastics on human health”, “Recyclable bioplastics from natural polymers”, “Development and certification of packaging materials with lower environmental impact” and “Application of biocatalysts for eco-design of sustainable plastics” were implemented.

The second day of the assembly (November 21^st) was dedicated to the presentations of the platform members whose research is related to “Revalorization of waste through microbial bioprocesses” and “Design of sustainable plastics through chemical approaches”.

In short, the assembly was a great success, providing an excellent opportunity to foster synergies between the platform groups. The coordinators closed the assembly by expressing their gratitude for the results achieved and optimism to face another year of work focused on Sustainable Plastics for a Circular Economy.