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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 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.
Microplastics have been widely detected in aquatic environments, with industrial wastewater streams presenting a key hotspot of microplastic contamination. Implementation of measures for microplastic removal which do not significantly burden the environment is crucial. The presented study is based on an environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a novel pilot plant for the removal of microplastics and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) from the wastewater of an industrial plastics processing plant in Germany [1]. Assessing the feasibility of microplastics removal from industrial wastewaters requires a detailed sustainability assessment. So far, very few LCAs have been conducted on microplastic removal technology implementation in such case studies [2]. The analysis considers the implementation of a microplastic removal system using the novel Wasser 3.0 PE-X® approach based on a combination of physical-agglomeration and water-induced chemical fixation using organosilanes [3]. COD removal is further carried out by separating the agglomerates using a belt filter and treating the water through an adsorption process. The assessment considers three distinct scenarios: (I) the status quo with no microplastic treatment, (II) conventional treatment using standard coagulation materials, and (III) optimized treatent using the Wasser 3.0 PE-X® approach. The analysis considers the effects of microplastic and COD release as well as the benefits of additional water reuse and more sustainable removal techniques. The final scenario includes a proposed circular approach for the retained microplastic agglomerates, which can be utilized as a substitute in concrete materials, thereby reducing the need to produce virgin concrete materials. The results are presented as a comparison between the three scenarios, pointing to the benefits provided by an optimized retention system with additional waste re-use. The work provides a full overview of microplastic removal in industrial wastewater streams, particularly related to the implementation of circular practices and new technologies with high retention capabilities. Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/559473/document
More Papers Like This
When technology meets sustainability – microplastic removal from industrial wastewater including impact analysis and life cycle assessment
AI summary Read the abstract
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
AI summary Read the abstract
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.
Beyond Microplastics: Implementation of a Two-Stage Removal Process for Microplastics and Chemical Oxygen Demand in Industrial Wastewater Streams
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Researchers developed and tested a pilot-scale two-stage treatment process for removing microplastics and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from industrial plastic manufacturing wastewater, achieving reductions of 97-98% for microplastics and 94% for COD across eight test phases, preventing an estimated 2.7 tonnes of microplastic emissions per year.
Beyond Microplastics: Implementation of a Two-Stage Removal Process for Microplastics and Chemical Oxygen Demand in Industrial Wastewater Streams
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers developed and tested a pilot-scale two-stage treatment process for removing microplastics and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from industrial plastic manufacturing wastewater, achieving reductions of 97-98% for microplastics and 94% for COD across eight test phases, preventing an estimated 2.7 tonnes of microplastic emissions per year.
Beyond Microplastics: Implementation of a Two-Stage Removal Process for Microplastics and Chemical Oxygen Demand in Industrial Wastewater Streams
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers developed and tested a two-stage pilot-scale treatment process for removing microplastics and chemical oxygen demand from industrial wastewater at a German plastic manufacturer. The system achieved average microplastic removal rates above 98% and reduced chemical oxygen demand by 94%, preventing an estimated 2.7 metric tons of microplastic per year from entering municipal wastewater systems. The study demonstrates that upstream treatment at industrial sources can effectively reduce the microplastic burden on public wastewater infrastructure.
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