Environment Pillar (Leads Henry and Fernandes) – The Environmental pillar includes international experts that lead ongoing investigations of the presence, characteristics, and effects of plastics in the environment [natural and human (household and industrial).  Research competence includes expertise on detection of plastics from environmental samples and characterization of their physicochemistry and behaviour in environmental media (soil, water, air and organisms), interactions of plastics with microorganisms, physical effects of plastics on tissue surfaces of organisms, and effects of plastics on the bioavailability of associated toxicants. Our research on plastics in marine ecosystems and their effects on organisms already has considerable public outreach communication.  The Environment pillar of the HWU Plastics-CENTRE will not investigate effects of waste plastics that are already in the environment, but will provide environmental science insight and relevant experimentation within each of the four thematic areas.