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A Critical Review on the Landfill Plastisphere: Coupling Microplastics and Greenhouse Gases Towards Smart Low-Carbon Management
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Researchers reviewed how macroplastics degrade into microplastics within landfills and proposed that the resulting plastisphere — where microbial biofilms colonize plastic surfaces — likely contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions through biogeochemical transformations, outlining an IoT- and AI-assisted monitoring framework to simultaneously reduce microplastic release and carbon output.
Landfills are complex repositories where macroplastics degrade into MPs. This review examines mechanical, chemical, and biological pathways of plastic fragmentation, as well as the occurrence, characteristics, and removal efficiency of MPs in landfill leachate. We also explore the landfill plastisphere from the perspective of this complex matrix, considering how plastic surfaces and microbial life may potentially converge to form a key biogeochemical interface that could influence carbon and nitrogen transformations. The plastisphere’s complex surface structure drives microbial differentiation. Given its established links to GHG production in soil and water, we propose it likely represents a key contributor to GHG emissions in the more complex landfill environment. To bridge this conceptual gap, we review a mathematical scaffolding encompassing biofilm growth, polymer degradation kinetics, and gas flux, which can as a theoretical baseline requiring future in situ parameterization to evaluate plastisphere-driven biogeochemical interactions. Building on recent advances in monitoring and remote sensing technologies, including IOT networks, UAV imagery, and AI analysis, we outline a low-carbon landfill framework designed to optimize operational controls. This framework is described to simultaneously mitigate MP release and reduce GHG emissions, lowering carbon footprints. Amid surging plastic pollutants, this review underscores the necessity of holistic, integrated mitigation strategies.
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Researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 55 studies and found that microplastics do not simply inhibit anaerobic digestion but redirect carbon flow within it — suppressing methane production while boosting volatile fatty acid accumulation — with the direction and magnitude of effects determined by polymer type, concentration, size, and temperature.
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