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Performances of Polyethylene Terephthalate Plastic Bottles Waste as Supporting Media in Domestic Wastewater Treatment Using Aerobic Fixed-Film System
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Not a microplastics paper — this study repurposes shredded PET plastic bottles as a structural support media (not as a pollutant) inside a wastewater treatment system, finding it effectively removes organic matter and nutrients from domestic wastewater.
There has been a lot of research on domestic wastewater treatment utilizing polymer-based supporting media. The purpose of this study is to investigate the removal of organic compounds and nutrients, as well as the kinetics of substrate removal, in a batch aerobic fixed-film system that is fed by artificial domestic wastewater and uses Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles waste as supporting media. The artificial domestics wastewater feeding contains C6H12O6, NH4Cl, and KH2PO4 as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus sources. Artificial domestics wastewater treatment was performed at COD levels of 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600 (mg/L). The findings demonstrated that an aerobic fixed-film system wastewater treatment with PET-supporting media could remove organics and nutrients. The removal for COD 85.76 ± 0.59%, ammonia 76.59 ± 0.83%, nitrite 76.09 ± 0.66%, nitrate 64.30 ± 0.42%, TN 77.02 ± 0.94%, and TP 86.54 ± 0.68%, with the Singh’s method substrate removal kinetics (k1) is 1.60 ± 0.05/hour. The benefit of supporting media from PET plastic bottle waste is contributing to plastic bottle waste reduction in Indonesia.
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Researchers investigated how PET microplastics affect the structure and function of aerobic granular sludge used in wastewater treatment. Higher microplastic concentrations led to changes in granule size, altered the composition of extracellular polymeric substances, and shifted microbial community structure. The findings suggest that microplastic contamination in wastewater could compromise the stability and efficiency of biological treatment processes.
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Scientists isolated bacteria from wastewater treatment sludge that can biodegrade PET plastic, used in plastic bottles and food packaging. The bacteria broke down PET microplastics over a 60-day period, pointing toward a potential biological tool for removing plastic contamination from water treatment systems.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.