From Theory to Practice – Experts Discuss Progress of IAEA’s Initiative to Fight Plastic Pollution

“Plastic pollution is also an economic issue — every year, the Philippines suffers from a loss of $790 million of potential market value because of it. To address it, we need to involve several parties. During the experimental phase of our scientific concept, we collaborated with the private sector, local public institutions, and the IAEA,” Jordan Madrid, Head of the Chemistry Research Section of the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute, told the audience. Now that the research phase is finalized and the project is moving towards the development phase, experts could better estimate the economic feasibility of this technology, he added. 

During the event, participants learned that almost 40 countries are currently working on developing recycling technologies under NUTEC Plastics.  

“In the past, we used to monitor microplastics in 18 beaches in the Latin America and the Caribbean region. Today, we are monitoring 139 beaches and shorelines,” reported Alejandro Garcia-Moya, Director General of the Centre of Environmental Studies in Cienfuegos, Cuba. “We owe this to the collaboration of more than 20 laboratories from different Latin American countries that work together under the IAEA’s NUTEC Plastics initiative and under our regional scientific networks in the area, such as REMARCO.”  

During the event, participants learned that 63 countries are part of the monitoring component of NUTEC Plastics, which goal is to provide the world with the technology and know-how required to sample and analyze marine microplastics in the oceans.

It is expected that that national laboratories will form the international network of NUTEC Plastic Monitoring Laboratories to support the harmonization of sampling and analysis protocols and share their best practices.

Thanks to pledges reaching almost Є5 million from six IAEA Member States — Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America — NUTEC Plastics is currently being mobilized to support 78 countries in solving their plastic pollution problems. Sustainable financing is a key accelerator for the NUTEC Plastics initiative, and the IAEA is focussed on forging new and diverse partnerships for funding.  

New projects include additional coordinated research projects, for instance, on the use of biomass, a technical document (TECDOC) on protocols for the study of microplastics in sand beaches to be completed in 2024, and additional trainings and equipment transfer to Member States.  

"Radiation technology can improve plastic recycling, and isotopic tracing techniques help monitor and analyse the behaviour and fate of microplastics in the seas and oceans. Through NUTEC Plastics, the IAEA will contribute to the global response to plastic pollution, and to a sustainable solution," said Hua Liu, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation regarding the NUTEC Plastics initiative.