Wastewater Treatment Methods for Removal of Microplastics from Effluents

Microplastics and nanoplastics (plastic debris) were found in the air, soil, and all types of water. They have a negative effect on nature, humans, and technical devices functionality. Their effective removal is therefore a great challenge. The main aim of this chapter is to discuss the pressure membrane technologies and their utilization for microplastics and nanoplastics removal. The porous and non-porous membrane types, their construction, and mechanisms of fluid transport across them are briefly described. Utilization of main pressure membrane technologies – microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, and electrodialysis for micro and nanoplastics capturing are discussed. Problems of membrane fouling by basic mechanisms are solved. The modeling and simulation of membrane filtration of dispersion containing solid plastic debris of different size distributions are mentioned.