Christian Doppler Laboratory for Biodegradation of Water-Soluble Polymers

Research in the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Biodegradation of Water-Soluble Polymers, which was started in 2025, focuses on the chemical and microbiological processes underlying polymer biodegradation in wastewater and freshwater systems.

The Laboratory is led by Michael Zumstein (Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna). In an external module, led by Teresa Steininger-Mairinger at BOKU University, polymer- and environment-specific analytical methods are developed. 

BASF SE is the industrial partner in this interdisciplinary collaboration between experts from the fields of chemistry, microbiology, and environmental sciences. The most important public funding body is the Federal Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism (BMWET) and the Christian Doppler Research Association.

Water-soluble polymers are important high-performance components in many personal care and household products, with a global annual production of more than one million tons. After these products are used, the water-soluble polymers they contain end up in wastewater, which prevents their recollection and recycling. The sustainable management of these polymers at the end of their life cycle is a major challenge. Biodegradable polymers are of particular interest in this context. 

The basic research conducted in this CD Laboratory addresses fundamental aspects in this context. The overall goal is to establish the urgently needed scientific basis for the development and regulation of biodegradable high-performance WSPs. The research has three main objectives: (i) identifying key factors that influence the biodegradation of WSPs, (ii) deriving relationships between the microbial functioning and the biodegradation of WSPs, and (iii) developing analytical methods that enable detailed investigations of the biodegradation of WSPs and the transition from the laboratory to realistic scenarios.”