Microplastics Degradation Technologies and Remediation Techniques from Aquatic Systems

Microplastics pose a great threat and long-lasting effect to the ecosystem and human due to its persistent and toxic nature. MPs are most commonly found in aquatic systems such as rivers, lakes, groundwater, wastewater treatment plants, and bottled water. When MPs are consumed directly or indirectly, they can pose serious health risks. The societal, economical, and environmental concerns over the effect caused by MPs have urged researchers to develop a potential remediation technique. Most of the studies have focused on the fate of MPs in the environmental medium, and much less work has been carried out on the degradation of MPs. Degradation of MPs involves complete mineralization of MPs. Few physical, chemical, and biological degradation technologies have been attempted to investigate the efficiency of MPs degradation. Most of the research is still conducted in laboratories and has not been scaled up to real-world conditions. This chapter reviews the advanced technologies for MPs elimination, such as the advanced oxidation process, membrane bioreactor technology, biological degradation, and supercritical water oxidation. The final section of the chapter discusses the control strategies such as reducing plastic production, banning single-use plastics, policy level changes, behavioral change of people and finding alternatives to plastics. The majority of technologies tested for their effectiveness in degrading microplastics (MPs) are already commonly used in treatment plants. Typically, these technologies are investigated independently in research studies. It is important to consider the collective efficiency of these technologies in future research and applications.