"Plastics, Biology and the Environment."

Plastic certainly has been, and still is, a useful and economic resource, but it has generated increasing environmental pollution over time, only with popularization and knowledge, especially among the younger generation, can a real contribution be made to its sustainability. This is the conviction of the creators of the event "Plastics, Biology and the Environment," now in its fourth edition, which will be held on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, starting at 9 a.m ., in Aula A of the Monte Sant'Angelo University Complex of the University of Federico II.

Born in 2023, from a shared idea between the faculty members of the Department of Biology, Maria De Falco, Giulia Maisto, Luigi Rosati and Rosanna del Gaudio (referent of Job Training Pathways, former PCTO), to promote and incentivize the dissemination of scientific culture and to raise awareness of sustainability issues among young people by presenting the main advances in research.

The initiative, which is open to the public, has always included the participation of high school students in the area and will consist of a plenary session in room A7 and practical sessions in rooms A5, A6 and A8.

The topic will be the interaction between plastics and the environment and the consequences it can generate on the health of our planet's ecosystems.

Speakers for institutional greetings will be Antonio Pescapè, Rector's Delegate for Innovation and Knowledge Enhancement; Piero Salatino, Rector's Delegate for Orientation; Andrea Prota,President of the Polytechnic and Basic Sciences School; Giulia Guerriero, President of the Interdepartmental Center for Environmental Research (CIRAM), which is supporting the initiative with moral sponsorship; and Gionata De Vico, Director of the Department of Biology.

The morning will open with a talk by RAI journalist and Presa Diretta correspondent, Paola Maria Vecchia, author of the book-investigation "Mal di Plastica - Truth and Lies about the Material that Submerged the World and Got into Our Blood" (Daedalus Editions)co-written with Daniela Cipolloni and Teresa Paoli, which won the 2024 National Prize for Scientific Disclosure in the Legal, Economic and Social Sciences section, based on the docu-investigation "Plastica connection" from the program Presa Diretta, on Rai 3, hosted by Riccardo Iacona.

This will be followed by short multi-voice speeches(Giulia Maisto, Maria De Falco, Luigi Rosati, Veronica Ambrogi, Ilaria Papa, Carlo Donadio) to illustrate the most significant results of research studies, analyses and proposals to address the damage caused by plastic released in nature.

The initiative, in fact, is part of events to promote the image of the Departments involved(Department of Biology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Materials and Industrial Production - DICMAPI and Department of Earth, Environmental and Resource Sciences - DiSTAR) to develop active citizenship and also to stimulate and concretize further synergies between the University and companies in the area.

In fact, as usual, Dr. Antonio Pepe, agricultural manager from the company "Nanometer Zero," which deals with innovative agricultural development to protect the environment and well-being, will also participate: a totally organic company with a production extended over about one hundred thousand square meters that starts from the seed up to the finished product, exclusively in glass, distributed mostly in European countries.

An additional activity of his is the design and implementation of an instructional and educational path that welcomes children from many schools illustrating the virtuous cycle of the company with a view to full sustainability and productivity.

Andrea Lorenzo Henry Sergio DETRY, co-founder of a start-up company called "oniro" will speak to illustrate the innovative method, which he devised, for the production of "sparkling" plastic objects that reduce the impact on the environment of conventional plastic.