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When Technology Meets Sustainability: Microplastic Removal from Industrial Wastewater, Including Impact Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment
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Researchers assessed a novel pilot plant that removes microplastics from industrial wastewater using organosilane-based agglomeration followed by belt filtration, and conducted a life cycle assessment. The system achieved 98% MP removal by mass and 99.9987% by particle count while reducing chemical oxygen demand by 96%, with the life cycle assessment confirming the environmental feasibility of the approach.
Microplastics (MPs) that are ubiquitous in aquatic environments and industrial wastewater streams have been identified as key hotspots of MP contamination. It is significantly more effective to remove MPs at these points before they enter municipal wastewater streams. This study is an environmental assessment of a novel pilot plant for the removal of MPs and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) from wastewater with a high MP contamination from a plastics manufacturer in Germany. MP removal is based on physical–chemical agglomeration–fixation by organosilanes. Formed agglomerates are separated using a belt filter. The COD is removed by an adsorption process. The resulting MP removal was 98.0 ± 1.1% by mass and 99.9987 ± 0.0007% by particle count, while the COD was reduced by 96 ± 2.7%. The system’s sustainability is evaluated using the Life Cycle Assessment methodology, evaluating system construction, operation, and end-of-life considerations. The current pilot plant is also compared to an optimized circular and sustainable upgrade, where drivers of environmental burdens are eliminated and collected MPs are reused. Significant reductions in environmental impact categories are achieved and the global warming potential is reduced by 96%. This study provides a sustainability assessment of a novel technology and circular solution to remove MPs from highly polluted industrial wastewater.
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When technology meets sustainability – microplastic removal from industrial wastewater including impact analysis and life cycle assessment
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Researchers conducted a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a novel pilot plant for removing microplastics and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from industrial plastics processing wastewater in Germany, using the Wasser 3.0 PE-X approach based on physical agglomeration and organosilane-based chemical fixation. The study evaluated the environmental sustainability of implementing this microplastic removal technology in an industrial wastewater context.
When technology meets sustainability – microplastic removal from industrial wastewater including impact analysis and life cycle assessment
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Researchers conducted an environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a novel pilot plant designed to remove microplastics and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from industrial plastics-processing wastewater, evaluating whether the technology's environmental benefits of microplastic removal outweigh the burdens of operating the treatment system.
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Researchers tested an automated pilot plant using organosilane-induced agglomeration to remove microplastics from industrial packaging-production wastewater at high loads (1,725 mg/L). Across 25 continuous test runs, the system removed 97.4% of microplastics by mass and 99.1% by particle count while also reducing chemical oxygen demand by 78.8%.
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Beyond Microplastics: Implementation of a Two-Stage Removal Process for Microplastics and Chemical Oxygen Demand in Industrial Wastewater Streams
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