NORSUS researchers Valentina, Simon and Cecilia are in Dublin this week at the SETAC Europe conference LCA sessions are covering a wide range of topics over the five days of the conference.

This time the NORSUS team is focussing a lot on plastics and microplastics and how they are included in LCA, with Cecilia co-chairing a session on Reducing Plastics Impacts: Integrating Risk Assessment, Life Cycle Analysis and Material Flow Analysis Towards a Circular Economy together with Susanne M Brander (Oregon State University) and Andrea M Amadei (Politecnico of Milan).

Valentina is active in the Microplastics Interest Group, co-chairing the topical discussion on Understanding Microplastic Fate and (Eco) Toxicity Through Interdisciplinary Collaboration together with Susanne M Brander (Oregon State University), Amila Abeynayaka (Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)), Roland Hischier (Empa – Swiss Federal Laboratories for Material Science and Technology). She also presented her poster Linking Material Flow Analysis With Plastic Related Impacts: How to Make Progress With What We Know on Monday.

Simon has focussed on recycling and system expansion, presenting his poster Applying System Expansion with Multiple Functions to address the overall system burdens of recycling in comparison to other Circular Economic material strategies during a poster spotlight presentation. The SETAC programme always consists of interesting presentations and discussions on the state-of-the-art of LCA and the links to environmental toxicology and chemistry.