Who funds plastic pollution research?

We count 365 funded plastic pollution projects, active between 2019 and 2034, from 7 funders. The most came from EU · ERC (94 projects), EU · MSCA (79 projects) and EU · Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment (33 projects). The median award is $1.6M, across the 356 of 365 projects that list an amount.

Funded projects

365

Funders

7

Median award

$1.6M

Open calls now

1

Top funders of plastic pollution research

Projects whose title or summary mentions plastic pollution. Median award: of the projects that list an amount, in US dollars; “—” when fewer than 3 do.

Open plastic pollution funding calls

1 open call mentions plastic pollution today.

• Developing novel recycling technologies for complex plastic materials applying biotech solutions
  European Commission · Horizon EuropeUp to €5,000,000Deadline: September 22, 2027 ·

Forecast: announced, not open yet

1 forecast call on plastic pollution. Funders publish forecasts before a call opens; you can't apply to these yet, and dates can change.

• ForecastMicroplastics Research and Resource Coordination Center (U24 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
  National Institutes of HealthNot specifiedExpected to open October 1, 2026

Funded plastic pollution projects

A sample, latest start first, at most three per program.

• Dynamics and plasticity of neuropeptidergic circuits
  Wellcome · £4,750,000 · ends 2034
• What is an M2 macrophage? Defining Macrophage-associated Causal Circuits in Type 2 Settings
  Wellcome · £4,999,999 · ends 2034
• Mechanisms of error-driven learning in cortical neurons
  Wellcome · £4,500,000 · ends 2033
• CAREER: Aqueous Click Functionalization of Nanocellulose for Scalable Production of Property Programmable Plastics
  NSF · MPS · $598,776 · ends 2031
• CAREER: Electrode-Macromolecule Interactions Influence the Selectivity of Electrolytic Polymer Transformation, Deconstruction, and Depolymerization
  NSF · MPS · $725,000 · ends 2031
• CAREER: Discovering how swimming shapes fin function and development: A multi-level approach to studying developmental plasticity
  NSF · BIO · $1,431,697 · ends 2031
• CAREER: Genetically Programmable Protein Nanofibers for Mechanically Tunable Engineered Living Materials
  NSF · MPS · $653,463 · ends 2031
• Neural Repair for Chronic Incomplete Cervical Spinal Cord Injury with Nogo Receptor Blockade plus Rehabilitative Training
  NIH · NINDS · $3,306,533 · ends 2030
• FEC: Plastic-based Nano-Systems for High Throughput Multi-omic Biological Studies
  NSF · Office of the Director · $3,978,464 · ends 2030
• To help grow more food in effective way, farmers often use special fertilizers that release nutrients slowly
  USDA · $1,000,000 · ends 2030

How we count

Funded projects come from public award records (NIH RePORTER, NSF, EU CORDIS, UKRI Gateway to Research, Wellcome, the Gates Foundation, DOE, NASA and USDA NIFA) whose title or summary matches “plastic or microplastics”. NIH lists each budget year separately; one project counts once. Amounts are as the funder lists them; medians use only projects that list one, in US dollars. Open calls and forecasts are from our listings of October 28, 2026. A project can mention a topic without being mainly about it, so treat the counts as a guide to who funds the area.