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PRIORITY project in action: Advances and future directions on remediation, recovery, and development of sustainable alternatives to plastic materials to combat microplastic pollution
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This review summarizes advances reported at the second meeting of the COST Action PRIORITY working group on remediation, recovery, and sustainable alternatives to plastics, representing over 550 researchers from 53 countries. Progress spans membrane and bubble-barrier removal systems, microbial consortia for plastic biodegradation, engineered PET-degrading enzyme catalysts, and bio-based material alternatives aimed at reducing micro- and nanoplastic pollution.
Micro- and nanoplastics (MPs and NPs) remain a fragmented challenge across prevention, removal, and circular recovery strategies. At the second meeting of the COST Action PRIORITY – Plastics monitoRIng detectiOn RemedIaTion recoverY Working Group 5 (WG5, focused on Remediation, Recovery, and Sustainable Alternatives), bringing together over 550 researchers from 53 countries, participants consolidated advances and defined shared priorities. Reported progress spans: (i) removal — membrane trains, bubble barriers, and graphene-based aerogels enabling water flow with selective adsorption of sub-100 µm polymer particles; (ii) bio-routes — plastisphere-derived microbial consortia and an engineered whole-cell catalyst co-displaying polyethylene terephthalate (PET)-degrading enzymes PETase and MHETase for PET depolymerization to terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG); (iii) recovery and upcycling — image-guided quality control to reduce expandable polystyrene (EPS) production waste and a mild, aerobic photochemical protocol converting polystyrene to benzoic acid; and (iv) sustainable alternatives — closed-loop poly(lactic acid) (PLA) systems based on room-temperature ring-opening polymerization and catalytic alcoholysis to alkyl lactates, and bio-derived encapsulants (polysaccharides and candelilla-wax nanoparticles) for slow-release agro-inputs that avoid plastic residues. Cross-cutting needs include reference materials, performance metrics (capture thresholds, yields, life-cycle assessment), and alignment with standardization and regulatory pathways. The meeting advocates prevention at the source as the primary strategy, complemented by controllable recovery and evidence-based remediation. The roadmap outlined connects laboratory validation to field deployment and policy uptake, enabling robust, harmonized, and scalable solutions against plastic pollution.
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