Keynote & Invited Speakers

Industrial biotechnologies are key enablers of circular economy models, allowing renewable resources and waste streams to be transformed into high‑value, sustainable products. Novamont has developed an integrated industrial vision in which biotechnology, green chemistry and material science are combined to design solutions that are sustainable and competitive by design. In the presentation it will be shown how Novamont’s biotechnological platforms support circular bioeconomy models across the value chain, from feedstock valorization to the production of biodegradable and compostable biopolymers and biochemicals. Particular focus will be given to microbial processes converting renewable carbon sources and industrial by‑products into functional building blocks, and to the integration of fermentation, downstream processing and material development within efficient industrial systems.

Although cumulative evidence from in vitro and in vivo studies indicates that micro- and nano-plastics (MNPs) can perturb biological systems, and MNPs have been detected in several human fluids and tissues, the consequences of MNPs exposure to human health still remain unknown. To date, reliable human exposure estimates are hindered by the lack of standardized processing and analytical methods to detect MNPs in complex human biological matrices tissues, and limited evidence on the MNP-related adverse health effects exists. Work environments where plastic materials are produced/handled may represent prioritised settings for evaluating potential health effects on humans because workers experience higher level of exposure - by inhalation - as compared to the general population. To develop effective preventive strategies preventing human exposure to MNPs, it is essential to identify and validate sensitive and specific biomarkers of exposure and early changes in biological systems, which could be precursors to more serious health effects. Biomarkers should ideally be measured in biological matrices collected non-invasively (such as exhaled breath condensate – EBC and urine), or by minimally-invasive procedures (e.g., blood) to enable a periodical health assessment. For a more comprehensive understanding of the potential health risks associated with MNPs exposures, it is recommended using standardized research protocols which integrate exposure monitoring with human biomonitoring to harmonize the methodological approach across studies (Catalán et al, 2025). Future occupational studies aimed at addressing the causal relationship between MNPs exposure and health effects should basically follow the stepwise approach described in the OECD guidance document (Hopf et al, 2024) (Figure 1). Despite the progress achieved, several challenges should still be overcome in future studies. Figure 1. The main stages of a human biomonitoring study involving the MNPs assessment. These include the need of working with international multicenter prospective cohorts, whose members should be deeply involved in the design and execution of the study, allowing proper sample sizes and the assessment of causal relationships. Furthermore, classical validated biomarkers of (early) health effects should be complemented with more specific biomarkers of MNPs´ effects, which still need high-throughput methods and further standardization efforts. This work was supported by European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 965367 (PlasticsFatE). References Catalán, J., Afanou, A.K., Arranz. J.A., et al. (2025) NanoImpact 40, 100600. Hopf, N.B., Rousselle, C., Poddalgoda, D., et al. (2024). Environment Int. 191, 108990.

An integrated approach to assess exposure and early health effects in human populations exposed to micro- and nano-plastics

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Advanced nanomaterials (Ad-NMs), including micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs), are driving a new industrial revolution, with a global market projected to reach over 33 billion € by 2030. Despite this ongoing development, the actual sight of potential hazards could pose a barrier to innovation in key sectors. To move from perception to quantifying the impact of both Ad-NMs and MNPs, the Center of Preclinical Toxicology and Biochemistry has developed and validated a suite of reliable methods mainly focused on the bio-nano interaction across biological matrices at increasing levels of complexity. The philosophy is to apply and, if needed, integrate well-consolidated approaches developed over the last 60 years in the field of pharmaco-toxicology to the assessment of a broad range of industrial materials and environmentally dispersed end products, including MNPs. The main tools and skills, and a hypothetical workflow for the approach, are shown in Figure 1 (. A platform for assessing bio-nano interactions developed by the Center of Preclinical Toxicology and Biochemistry at the Istituto Mario Negri). In particular, within the POTENTIAL European project, we are developing a safety assessment platform to standardize an innovative, harmonized framework of experimental New Approach Methodologies that will be validated in in vivo studies. In addition, grouping and read-across approaches that meet regulatory risk-assessment requirements will be used to quantify risk thresholds. These methods will be integrated into a Methodological Framework for quantitative ranking of health and environmental hazards to support Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design of Ad-NMs in line with the goals of the European Green Deal and the Chemical Strategy for Sustainability. The different in vitro and in vivo approaches used to assess the risk of selected MNPs and to serve as a reference for optimizing the platform will be described. We will also introduce paradigmatic examples of how the physicochemical properties of MNPs, such as the nature of the plastic material, size, and surface charge, can significantly impact interactions with the biological target and data interpretation. This extremely important concept further reinforces the need to carry out such risk assessments using quantitative criteria and complementary procedures and models. This work was supported by the European Union's Horizon Europe RESEARCH AND INNOVATION ACTIONS PROGRAMME, Project “Platform Optimisation to Enable Nanomaterial Safety Assessment for Rapid commercialization (POTENTIAL)”, Grant number 101092901. This study was conducted under the Italian Institute for Planetary Health (IIPH) framework. Reference Moscatiello, G.Y., Natale, C., Inserra, M., Morelli, A., Russo, L., Battajini, N., Sironi, L., Panzeri, D., Corbelli, A., De Luigi, A., Fiordaliso, F., Candiani, G., Bigini, P., Diomede, L. (2025) Environ Sci Nano 2025, DOI: 10.1039/d4en00962b.

Development and standardization of a platform to evaluate the biological interaction and safety of micro-nanoplastics

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Understanding the environmental fate of plastics requires detailed knowledge of their chemical composition, encompassing both polymer matrices and associated additives. Processes such as degradation, additive leaching, and the release of micro and nanoplastics are central to how plastics behave in the environment. This keynote presents the application of pyrolysis coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (Py-GC–MS) as a powerful tool to characterize plastic materials and to link their molecular markers to degradation pathways and environmental behaviour. Through selected case studies on plastic products, including agricultural mulch films, wet wipes, and textiles, Py-GC-MS is used to identify polymers and additives and to monitor their transformation over time under laboratory or field exposure conditions. This approach highlights the potential of Py-GC-MS not only for detailed material characterization but also as a complementary method for unravelling the mechanisms governing plastic persistence and fate in the environment.

Food demand has been strongly increasing during the past decades and is going to further increase. Urgent questions to be answered are: How to find a balance between yields optimization to feed the worlds increasing population, food safety and global health. Which are the needs and requirements for sustainable transition? In this presentation I will focus on the role of agriplastics in agricultural production -cure or blessing? Agri-plastics consist of different types of polymers and additives. The fate of plastic debris and the chemicals released in the process of degradation will be discussed and the resulting environmental and human exposure. The (not yet quantified) risk for ecosystem and human health will be discussed and requirements for regulations and sustainable solutions.

Microplastics are now recognised as contaminants of both the marine environment and the atmosphere, yet the processes governing their exchange across the air–sea interface remain poorly understood. This presentation will showcase results from field studies conducted in the Baltic Sea and the northern Indian Ocean, with a focus on how ambient meteorological and oceanographic conditions control the occurrence, properties, transport, release, and uptake of airborne and marine microplastics. The talk will highlight how microplastic concentrations, composition, and size distributions change across contrasting environments and under different forcing conditions. Results from the Baltic Sea reveal a strong coupling between the sea surface and the atmosphere, with evidence of both marine emission and atmospheric transport of microplastics. Observations collected during major winter storms in 2022 further demonstrate the importance of hydrodynamic forcing for the redistribution of microplastics within the water column. In contrast, measurements from the Maldives indicate weaker air–sea coupling during the observation period, with airborne microplastics linked more closely to regional polluted air-mass transport than to local marine emissions. By combining microplastic measurements with atmospheric aerosol observations, this presentation will underline the importance of an interdisciplinary air–sea interaction framework for understanding the environmental fate of microplastics. More broadly, it will demonstrate the research potential of integrating aerosol physics, marine observations, and process-based interpretation to investigate emerging pollutants in the coupled ocean–atmosphere system.

Plastics are now pervasive across all environments. Although numerous studies have investigated their chemical and toxicological effects, their role in ecological processes remains poorly understood. This contribution explores key mechanisms and presents results illustrating how plastics can influence the functioning of freshwater environments. A central mechanism is mediated by the “plastisphere”, defined as the community of autotrophic and heterotrophic microorganisms colonizing plastic surfaces and forming localized hotspots of biological activity capable of influencing ecosystem metabolism. Large-scale experiments conducted across broad geographical gradients show that the plastisphere enhances substrate availability for bacteria and microalgae, effectively acting as a novel “floating-benthic” habitat. Plastisphere biodiversity appears primarily driven by local environmental conditions, suggesting opportunistic colonization processes. Effects on ecosystem metabolism vary among sites: in more eutrophic systems, positive values of net ecosystem production have been observed, indicating a shift towards autotrophy. These findings suggest a potential role of plastics in modulating carbon cycling and broader biogeochemical processes in lake ecosystems. Despite being carbon-based materials, plastics are not yet incorporated into conceptual or numerical models of lakes as dynamic systems of carbon transformation, degradation, and emission (“active pipes”). Their inclusion may be critical depending on system characteristics and sensitivity to carbon inputs. Through plastisphere-associated processes and the release of labile carbon, plastics can alter nutrient cycling, influence food-webs, and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Here, we provide a conceptual framework for explicitly integrating plastics into freshwater carbon cycling, highlighting their potential role as active components of biogeochemical pathways in aquatic ecosystems.

Plastics are extremely useful, hence widespread materials, which however present two problems: they are part of the fossil fuel product chain, hence indirectly contribute to climate change, and they are persistent in the ecosystem, leading to ecological and health issues. The problems that arise from this are emblematic of a wide range of technologies and seem to be addressable in two ways: reducing the production and use of plastics, giving up to a certain extent the benefits they provide, or increasing their recycling and reuse, with related costs and difficulties. The problems both solutions present can be traced back, on the one hand, to the idea of degrowth and, on the other, to the idea of the circular economy. “Politicising” the latter, in the sense of asking how technical solutions interface with the social and economic context, as some propose, is useful in showing the need for a governance of innovation. In my presentation, I will focus on three aspects: a) the issue of basic needs and consumption corridors as a side route to the alternative between growth and degrowth; b) the issue of the governability of the future and therefore of uncertainty with regard to technologies and their impacts; c) the relationship between voluntarism and nudging in the sphere of everyday practices. Going beyond a plastic future, as the title suggests, means both thinking about a future with less (new) plastic and thinking about the plasticity of the future in a different way than usual.

Plastic remains a cornerstone of modern industry, yet its linear "take-make-waste" trajectory presents critical environmental challenges. This presentation provides a comprehensive examination of the plastic value chain, transitioning from current production and consumption patterns toward a robust circular economy. Central to this analysis are the results of a first-of-its-kind Material Flow Analysis (MFA) for plastics within the European Union. This MFA granularly quantifies existing stocks and flows from production to end-of-life, providing a transparent baseline at sectors’ and polymers’ levels for evaluating current circularity rates and defining data-driven future scenarios. To evaluate the environmental trade-offs of these transitions, the presentation shares detailed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results across various plastic sectors. The research pushes the boundaries of conventional flows accounting by capturing the quantities of microplastic losses in the environment along the value chain, as well as waste mismanagement occurring in the EU. Furthermore, the work explores the shift toward alternative feedstocks, specifically bio-based inputs, and the pivotal role of biotechnologies in transforming waste into high-value secondary raw materials. A key focus is dedicated to the "Safe and Sustainable by Design" (SSbD) framework. The presentation analyzes new approaches for the design of chemicals and materials, including advanced materials, ensuring that functionality does not come at the cost of toxicity or persistence. These technical advancements are contextualized within the evolving legislative landscape. Strategic implications of key policies are mentioned for each e aspect, such as the Circular Economy Act, the Bioeconomy Strategy, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), the Advance Materials Act and the Biotech Act II, illustrating how policy frameworks act as catalysts for a sustainable and smarter plastic economy.