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How to Remove Plastics from Biowaste Cost Efficiently and at an Industrial Scale at Composting Facilities
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Plastic waste often sneaks into the food scraps and yard trimmings that get turned into compost, breaking down into tiny microplastics that end up in the soil where our food grows. Researchers teamed up with a Finnish composting company to design practical ways to strip out this plastic contamination, starting with simple sorting improvements now and working toward advanced biological methods to tackle microplastics in the future. Cleaner compost means fewer microplastics potentially entering our food chain—a step toward protecting both soil health and, ultimately, ours.
The TREASoURcE project, in collaboration with Aalto University’s International Design Business Management (IDBM) master’s programme, explored solutions to reduce plastic contamination in industrial biowaste composting through a case study with Kekkilä, Finland’s leading landscaping products manufacturer. The project developed a three-stage strategy towards cleaner and more sustainable biowaste processing — from immediate depackaging solutions to future biological innovations targeting microplastics. https://handbook.treasource.eu/how-to-remove-plastics-from-biowaste-cost-efficiently-and-at-an-industrial-scale-at-composting-facilities/
More Papers Like This
How to Remove Plastics from Biowaste Cost Efficiently and at an Industrial Scale at Composting Facilities
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers teamed up with a Finnish composting company to tackle a hidden problem: plastic waste that ends up mixed into the compost made from our food scraps and yard waste. They developed a step-by-step plan, starting with practical equipment to strip out visible plastic now, and looking ahead to biological methods that could break down microplastics in the future. This matters because compost contaminated with plastic can spread tiny plastic particles into soil, potentially working their way into the food we grow and eat.
Composting treatment increases the risk of microplastics pollution in process and compost products
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Researchers found that the composting process actually increases microplastic contamination rather than reducing it, breaking larger plastic pieces into smaller, more numerous particles. Even when visible plastics were sorted out before composting, the final compost still contained thousands of microplastic particles per kilogram. Since compost is widely applied to farm fields, this study reveals an overlooked pathway for microplastics to enter agricultural soil and potentially the food supply.
A long-term field experiment confirms the necessity of improving biowaste sorting to decrease coarse microplastic inputs in compost amended soils
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Researchers conducted a long-term field experiment in France showing that compost derived from poorly sorted urban biowaste significantly increases coarse microplastic concentrations in agricultural soils, confirming that improving biowaste sorting at the source is essential to reducing plastic inputs via compost.
Microplastics and impurities in digestates and compost: A comparative study of waste-derived soil amendments
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Researchers analyzed five types of compost and digestate from organic waste treatment facilities over three months, finding microplastics in all samples at concentrations comprising 30–65% of total plastic content, with fibers, films, and fragments of polyethylene, polypropylene, and PET being most common — highlighting how even properly managed biowaste streams can introduce plastics into agricultural soils.
Breakdown of plastic waste into microplastics during an industrial Composting: A case study from a biowaste facility
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A study of industrial composting facilities found that plastic waste items introduced into the compost feedstock broke down into microplastics during the composting process, with finished compost containing significant MP concentrations that could contaminate agricultural soils where the compost is applied.
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