Microplastic Pollution: Advancements in Mitigation, Policy Challenges, and Future Directions

Microplastic (MPs) pollution has emerged as a significant environmental concern globally, posing threats to ecosystems, human health, and biodiversity. Prior reviews treat biological, engineering, and policy interventions in silos and largely catalog findings without a comparative, decision-oriented synthesis that maps efficacy, limits, scalability, and readiness to concrete deployment contexts. Therefore, this review work provides an integrated, decision-oriented synthesis that jointly evaluates biological, technological, and policy interventions for mitigation. The study finds that filtration is the most deployment-ready option but suffers from fouling and limited capture of the smallest particles, advanced oxidation can work yet is energy- and cost-intensive, while biological/enzymatic routes are promising but slow and scale is limited. Engineered strains can outperform wild types but introduce biosafety and regulatory risks. Looking forward, it emphasizes the necessity for interdisciplinary research and novel technological solutions to address the persistent challenges of MP pollution. The paper concludes with a call for urgent, coordinated action across sectors to develop and implement comprehensive strategies for mitigating this widespread environmental issue.