A Day of Exchange and Insights at the PLASTINEST Workshop 2025

On July 4th, 2025, we had the pleasure of hosting the PLASTINEST workshop at the Maison Écocitoyenne in Bordeaux. Supported by 11 sponsors, the event was held in parallel with the sixth annual meeting of the French research network GDR Plastique, Environnment, Santé in Talence, bringing together 52 participants from the scientific and industrial communities working on microplastic transport in estuaries.

Throughout the day, we welcomed five invited speakers who shared with us the latest advances in microplastic dynamics across different scales. In the morning, the first session on small-scale processes in turbid estuarine waters was introduced by Kryss Waldschläger (Wageningen University) and Nan Wu (British Antarctic Survey). In a second session, Erik Toorman (KU Leuven) shifted the focus to large-scale processes through numerical modeling, while reminding us of the importance of linking them back to small-scale mechanisms and field observations. In the afternoon, Tim van Emmerik (Wageningen University) and Andy Cundy (University of Southampton) explored dynamics at different scales based on observation and monitoring. In addition, four PLASTINEST researchers—Sophie Defontaine, Sébastien Jarny, Isabel Jalón-Rojas, and Vania Ruiz-Gonzalez—shared the latest project results across these three themes.

The day was marked by stimulating discussions and convivial exchanges among participants. Highlights included demonstrations such as the settling column (SCAF), the field test in the Garonne River of Ascension—an innovative instrument for pumping and filtering water samples to collect microplastics—and live applications with the TRACKMPD numerical model. We also enjoyed a lively poster session showcasing high-quality presentations.

For the PLASTINEST team, the workshop was a real success: a stimulating day full of scientific exchange, new ideas, and the promise of future collaborations. We are grateful to all the speakers, sponsors, and participants who helped make it such a memorable event.