BASF, Germany

Tentative title: Microplastic issues as trigger of the re-design of polymers, exemplified by a case study on the generation and degradation of microplastic during biodegradation of food packaging in compost

Wendel Wohlleben is Senior Principal Scientist at BASF, Dept. of Material Physics with a second affiliation to the Dept. of Experimental Toxicology and Ecology. He studied physics (minor chemistry) at the University Heidelberg and at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. He obtained his PhD from the University of Munich with a biophysical thesis on energy harvesting in photosynthesis, performed at the Max-Planck-Institute for Quantum Optics. The post-doc at Physical Chemistry, University Marburg was devoted to chemically resolved microscopy. Wendel is a researcher at BASF since 2005, interrupted by a sabbatical leave to the Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, and was visiting scientist at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston (2012 to 2019). At BASF, Wendel leads the research cluster on the impact assessment of nanomaterials, and another cluster on microplastics. His own labs develop and apply methods to characterize the interaction between such colloids and their environment, e.g. to understand the fate of microplastics. New aspects consider lifecycle releases from advanced materials that combine several components to achieve an intended functionality.