It’s my pleasure to welcome you to issue 20 of Remediation Australasia. This issue of the magazine takes a look at a range of topics that we – and, we hope, you – find fascinating. We’re putting plastics under the microscope (sometimes literally), with an article on the increasingly urgent problem of microplastics. We also examine particulate plastics in soil, where the news might not be all bad. Also, biochar is receiving more and more attention for a range of uses, such as boosting carbon sequestration and soil health. In this issue, we review its potential for soil and water remediation.

We update readers on progress with CRC CARE’s probeCARE™ system, which provides cost-effective, in situ, real-time monitoring of pollutants in soil. I’m confident that this technology will also help drive improved management of cropping via optimised fertiliser application and other soil amendments.

At several locations in Australia, coal dust causes significant community concern. This issue reports on an improved method of analysing dust samples to provide information about quantity, composition and size distribution – data that are critical for understanding the best ways of reducing dust concentrations. We also dive into how contamination practitioners communicate risk associated with contaminated sites to community members who live or work close to the contamination. The latest research tells us that experts’ ability to inform about risk – and therefore enable affected residents to participate in the decision-making process – has potentially large social and economic ramifications.

I want to remind readers about the 1st Global CleanUp Congress, which will take place in Coimbatore, India, from 21 to 25 October this year. We’ve secured some of the world’s leading contamination experts to share their knowledge and we’ll be running some excellent workshops for delegates who want to advance their professional development. Visit the Global CleanUp Congress India 2018 website for more information.

Lastly, I’m excited to let you know about CleanUp Korea 2019, which will be held from 25 to 27 March in Seoul. This event has a Korea focus, but will be sufficiently broad to be of global interest. Its themes include: innovative in situ and ex situ remediation technologies; chlorinated hydrocarbons; PFAS assessment, remediation and management; regulatory constraints for emerging contaminants; and more. Find out more about at the CleanUp Korea website.