A NERC GW4 + DTP2 Project. Link to project PDF. https://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/chemistry/documents/Tackling%20the%20Plastic%20Waste%20Problem%20NERC%20GW4%20DTP2%202019.pdf.
Programme website. http://inspire-dtp.ac.uk. Project Rationale. Plastic pollution is of growing concern worldwide due to poor waste management and high consumer demand for single-use plastics (Moore, 2008).
We are currently seeking a PhD student with interests in microbiology, molecular biology and the environment to conduct research into the microbial degradation of waste plastics.
We are currently seeking a PhD student with interests in microbiology, molecular biology and the environment to conduct research into the microbial degradation of waste plastics.
Researchers and the public are aware of the potential issues of plastic pollution. Images of birds, mammals and other charismatic species entangled in and eating plastics have created great concern about our profligate plastic use.
Since the onset of mass production of plastics in the 1950’s the flux of plastics to the marine environment has been a growing problem (Cole at al., 2011), such that microplastic contamination of the oceans is now one of the world’s most pressing environmental concerns (Hurley et al., 2018).
By 2015, humans had generated 8.3 billion metric tons of plastics, 6.3 billion tons of which had already become waste. Of that waste total, only 9 percent was recycled, 12 percent was incinerated and 79 percent accumulated in landfills or the natural environment.
