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Removal of Microplastics from Wastewater Treatment Plants: Strategies, Efficiency, and Future Prospects
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This review paper summarizes existing research on tiny plastic particles found in wastewater. Treatment plants were reported to remove over 90% of these particles during standard treatment stages, with even higher removal when extra pretreatment steps were used, though some particles still escape into the environment through treated water and sludge.
Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) have emerged as pervasive contaminants in wastewater, largely originating from consumer products and urban sewage systems. Nevertheless, MPs continue to be released into the environment through treated effluent and land-applied sludge, highlighting the need for enhanced treatment strategies. Despite this, studies report over 90% removal efficiency across primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment stages, and when combined with pretreatment steps, even higher removal rates can be achieved. This chapter consolidates current knowledge on the occurrence, fate, removal technologies, and research gaps related to MPs, aiming to support the development of improved wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) designs, policy interventions, and standardized methodologies to mitigate MP pollution.
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Recent advances on microplastics pollution and removal from wastewater systems: A critical review
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This review summarizes the latest research on microplastic detection, occurrence, and removal in wastewater treatment plants. While treatment plants can remove 57-99% of microplastics depending on the stage, significant amounts still escape into the environment through treated water and sludge. The findings highlight the need for advanced treatment methods to prevent microplastics from reaching waterways and ultimately human water supplies.
Microplastics in wastewater treatment plants: Sources, properties, removal efficiency, removal mechanisms, and interactions with pollutants
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This review examines microplastic sources, properties, removal efficiency, and removal mechanisms across different wastewater treatment plant stages. Researchers found that while treatment plants remove a significant portion of microplastics, they cannot eliminate them entirely, resulting in the continued release of millions of particles into the environment daily through effluent and sludge.
The Effect of Wastewater Treatment Plants on Retainment of Plastic Microparticles to Enhance Water Quality—A Review
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This review examined how well wastewater treatment plants remove microplastics, finding that most conventional systems achieve high removal rates but still discharge significant plastic quantities in treated effluent and sludge. Improving treatment efficiency and preventing sludge application to farmland are key strategies for reducing microplastic release.
Microplastics in Wastewater Treatment Plants: Characteristics, Occurrence and Removal Technologies
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This review summarizes how wastewater treatment plants are a major pathway for microplastics entering the environment, covering the types, sizes, and sources of microplastics found in wastewater. While treatment plants can remove many microplastics, significant amounts still escape into rivers and oceans through treated water and sludge. The authors evaluate various removal technologies and recommend advanced treatment methods to better prevent microplastics from reaching water supplies.
Microplastics removal through water treatment plants: Its feasibility, efficiency, future prospects and enhancement by proper waste management
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Researchers reviewed over 80 studies on water treatment plant performance and found microplastic removal ranges widely — from 16% in basic primary treatment up to near 100% with advanced membrane systems — but a major flaw is that removed microplastics concentrate in sludge, which can re-enter the environment. The review recommends optimizing coagulants and sludge treatment to prevent microplastics from simply being relocated rather than eliminated.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.