The paper "LitChemPlast: An Open Database of Chemicals
Measured in Plastics" by Helene Wiesinger and co-authors received the ES&T
Letters Best Review Article Award. Their study presents the LitChemPlast
database, providing empirical evidence for over 3,500 chemicals found in
plastics from a variety of sectors and waste streams, drawn from 372 studies. It can support exposure assessments, chemical prioritization and
substance flow analysis. Paper: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.4c00355
The paper "Legacy and Emerging Plasticizers and Stabilizers in PVC Floorings and Implications for Recycling" by Helene Wiesinger and co-authors received the 2024 ES&T Best Paper Award. The study shows that 16% of new PVC floorings in Switzerland still contain regulated substances such as DEHP and lead, underscoring the need for transparency and chemical safety in circular economy.
ESD Professor Stephan Pfister and PhD Student Shuntian Wang contributed to a news article by SRF about the CO2 emissions imported to Switzerland. While official territorial emissions in Switzerland are falling, the picture looks different, when supply chains are taken into account: Then, Switzerland has one of the highest climate impacts per capita.
Preventing food waste can benefit both consumers and the environment. This is the result of a 2019 study by ESD researchers Claudia Beretta and Stefanie Hellweg. An article in the newspaper "Tagesanzeiger" has covered this research in an article about food waste.