In line with the International Year of the Reef 2018 and Singapore’s Year for Climate Action, The International Conference on Plastics in Marine Environment, that will be held on the 5-7th December by the National University of Singapore, seeks to address the issue of plastic debris in the marine environment, with a special focus on microplastics and the environmental issues facing tropical Southeast Asia.

List of topics:

Plastics in the Sea

• Chemistry of plastic marine debris in seawater

• Microfibers in marine environment

• Effects of microplastics on marine life

• Chemical and biological degradation of plastic debris in different marine and coastal environments

Environmental Impact Assessment

• Challenges for monitoring programs in the identification, management, collection of plastics from ocean

• New approaches for monitoring/detection of marine debris and microplastics

• Transport and fate of marine debris in the ocean: theory, modelling

• Ecological and public health risk assessment of marine debris and microplastics

• Land-Sea interactions: modelling discharges from terrestrial environment

• Understanding effect of oceanic subtropical gyres on plastic contamination in different regions of the world

Socio-Economic Issues

• Estimating the Economic Impacts of Marine Debris: case Studies from different regions

• Ghost fishing gears: problems and solutions

• Local, state and federal ocean litter laws from around the Globe

• Public education and outreach initiatives; Role of NGOs

• Data analysis on reduction efforts and policies on microplastic pollution

• Local to global partnerships on microplastics

• Global plastics alliance on marine debris

Solutions for the Future

• Bringing Value to Marine Debris

• Plastic waste: a new resource for the energy transition

• Innovations for a clean ocean

​More information in the Conference website