Public conference
- 18th March 2025 -
Campus Biotech in Geneva

Online broadcast

of plastic enter Lake Geneva every year
0 tonnes
via run-off water
0 %
reduction possible by 2040
0 %

Public conference "Plastiques dans le Léman, overdose ?

In partnership with F.-A. Forel department environmental and water sciences, and the faculty of science of theUniversity of Geneva.
Context

In Switzerland, plastic consumption exceeds 1 million tonnes a year. According to available data from studies and extrapolations for Switzerland, nearly 14,000 tonnes of macroplastics and microplastics are disseminated in nature every year, discharged into soils, surface waters and their sediments, escaping retention mechanisms and elimination. This waste breaks down into invisible particles that insidiously find their way everywhere. The problem has thus spread around the world and become one of the greatest environmental problems that humanity has created and must face up to.

Lake Geneva is no exception to this invasion of plastic, and it is against this backdrop that the ASL has been tackling the issue since 2014. It's a battle that it has been waging for 10 years now, with concrete actions on the ground such as Net'Léman - the great lake clean-upparticipatory science initiatives such as theApp Net'Léman or scientific studies such as Pla'stock or Léman Plastic Action.

The study Pla'stock conducted on 25 beaches on Lake Geneva reveals an average of 7,600 microplastics per m2 including 60% of synthetic textile fibres released by clothes during washing or normal wear and tear. In terms of macroplastics, the average concentration was 3.4 plastic elements per linear metre of beach. Half of the elements collected were unidentified fragments. The four most frequently identified elements are cigarette butts, food packaging, pellets (industrial plastic granules) and cotton buds.

The study Léman Plastic Actioncompleted in 2024, is based on a modelling approach and shows that 100 tonnes of plastic enter the lake every year. It also points to other factors not detected in the study Pla'stockThese include tyre dust, paint from facades and roads, and residues from synthetic sports surfaces.

 

 

 In order to make as many people as possible aware of this growing threat to the health of ecosystems and humans, the ASL is organising, in partnership with the University of Geneva, a public conference on 18 March 2025 at the Campus Biotech in Geneva, which will give the floor to a number of specialists in the field. The evening will provide an opportunity to review the current state of research and existing data in the Lake Geneva and Swiss regions, to discuss the most important sources, and to propose solutions for reducing this insidious pollution.

WELCOME AND SNACK
18H00

 

CONFERENCES
18H30

WELCOME ADDRESS
Alfonso GOMEZ, Administrative Councillor, City of Geneva
Pascal MULATTIERI, Chairman of the ASL

45 YEARS OF SERVICE TO LEMAN
Suzanne MADER-FEIGENWINTER, Association pour la sauvegarde du Léman -ASL

ARE THE BEACHES OF LAKE GENEVA REALLY AS POLLUTED AS THOSE OF THE OCEANS?
From macro to nano plastic ... and then what?
Serge STOLL, University of Geneva - UNIGE
Alexis POCHELON, Association pour la sauvegarde du Léman - ASL

PLASTIC EVERYWHERE, HOW DOES IT TRAVEL?
From the summits to the rivers, what are the transfer mechanisms?
David GATEUILLE, Savoie Mont Blanc University

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT HUMAN HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT?
Health impacts of microplastics
Florian BREIDER, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne - EPFL

TYRE DUST, MAJOR POLLUTION, WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Tyres, one of the biggest plastic pollutants in the aquatic environment
Benoît FERRARI, Ecotox Centre

THE SOLUTIONS EXIST, LET'S KEEP HOPING!
Concrete actions and solutions for the private and public sectors
Julien BOUCHER, EA - Earth Action
Adrien BONNY, Association pour la sauvegarde du Léman - ASL  

 

ROUND TABLE
20H00

Benoît FERRARI, Ecotox Centre
David GATEUILLE, Savoie Mont Blanc University
Florian BREIDER, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne - EPFL
Julien BOUCHER, EA - Earth Action
Pascal MULATTIERI, Association pour la sauvegarde du Léman - ASL
Serge STOLL, University of Geneva - UNIGE

 

APERITIF DINNER
21H00

Location
Campus Biotech
9 Chemin des Mines
1202 Geneva

Timetable
6pm - 10pm
The conference will be broadcast live on the internet.

Access
SBB and CEVA trains, Sécheron stop
Bus 1, 11, 25, Jardin Botanique stop
Tram 15, Maison de la Paix stop
Mouette 4, De-Chateaubriand stop

 

Location
Campus Biotech
9 Chemin des Mines
1202 Geneva

Timetable
6.30pm - 10pm
The conference will be broadcast live on the internet.

Access
SBB and CEVA trains, Sécheron stop
Bus 1, 11, 25, Jardin Botanique stop
Tram 15, Maison de la Paix stop
Mouette 4, De-Chateaubriand stop

 

Registration form

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Mailing address for the quarterly "Lémaniques

The Campus Biotech Geneva Foundation and Campus Biotech are not involved in the organisation of this event.

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