Elimination of Microplastics from Textile Industry Wastewater Using Various Treatment Technologies

The textile industry is well known for its detrimental effects on the environment, despite providing a wide range of inventive and diverse products to satisfy the growing demand. Synthetic fibers made from petroleum compounds now dominate the textile business, and it is clear that plastic wastes at the macro, micro, and nano scales are harmful to the health of all living things. Microplastics are particles smaller than five millimeters and are utilized in a variety of products in different forms. They exist as microbeads in cosmetic and personal care products. Water contamination is caused by these microplastics, which find their way into water systems through goods. When they are in water, they are harmful to both aquatic and land life. Microplastic manufacturing has increased in the previous few decades, necessitating the need for accurate and trustworthy methods for their removal. Failure to do so will result in the buildup of microplastic in water, which will harm the ecology. Significant effects are caused by microplastics discharged into the environment, especially by wastewater treatment plants. This chapter’s main objective is to discuss the treatment strategies used to remove microplastics from wastewater from the textile sector. Biotechnological strategies, photodegradation, thermal-oxidative degradation, removal in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), the hydrophobicity-based approach, and Fenton-like systems have all been examined. These methods assist in resolving issues with microplastic buildup in water, which lowers the level of microplastic pollution in water. This chapter also reviews how well the various forms of microplastic may be removed. To improve the detection of microplastics and microfibers in textile wastewater, the study’s secondary objective is to determine the best pretreatment strategy for doing so. For this, two distinct process conditions (25°C for five days and 60°C for six hours) were applied to synthetic microfibers including acrylic, polyester, and polyamide. A variety of treatments were carried out utilizing H2O2, Fenton’s reagent, HCl, KOH, and NaOH. The results showed that whereas KOH and NaOH caused physical and chemical damage to all types of polymers, H2O2 was the most effective chemical for removing organic materials from textile effluent.