AIT leads global effort to tackle plastic pollution and develop next-generation materials

Researchers from the Athlone Institute of Technology’s Materials Research Institute are spearheading a major European-Chinese research effort aimed at tackling plastic pollution.

The Horizon 2020 research innovation project, BioICOP (Bio Innovation of a Circular Economy for Plastic), will seek to develop sustainable, environmentally-friendly alternatives to traditional plastic.

The €5 million project, which will span four years, will be led by the AIT, while fellow Irish third-level Institutes Trinity College Dublin and Limerick Institute of Technology will also partner on the project.

Dr Declan Devine, Director of the Materials Research Institute, said: “Our researchers have long been at the forefront of plastics research and development and have been working on solutions to the global crisis of plastic pollution for more than ten years in association with Enterprise Ireland.”