Cristina Megías, who completed her PhD in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Seville, at the Institute of Materials Science in Seville, has obtained one of the grants from the European Commission through the Individual Actions (IF) programme of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA). The project is entitled “Upcycling plastic waste: biopolymers for a circular economy” (acronym BIOP) and has a grant of 165,000 euros to be administered for 24 months.

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions focus on improving the employability of researchers, improving their skills, entrepreneurship, management and financing of research activities and programmes. In addition, the MSCA IF guarantee attractive employment and work conditions. They also contemplate the realization of outreach activities to bring science and society closer together and raise awareness about the impact of their work on the environment.

Cristina, thanks to this MSCA program, aims to address with her research the management of plastic waste, one of the most critical environmental problems caused by human activity. The Covid-19 pandemic and the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), which is used by healthcare workers only once, disinfected and then thrown into a landfill, has worsened this situation due to the amount of waste it generates.

For this reason, the development of a sustainable alternative for the manufacture of this equipment has become increasingly crucial. Cristina Megías has investigated the possibility of recycling them so that the material can be reused and even new protective equipment can be made. This project, therefore, pursues the recycling of plastics and biomass waste for the generation of biopolymers, thereby achieving a double objective: obtaining less polluting materials and finding a use for waste that would otherwise be unused.