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Can incineration completely eliminate plastic wastes? An investigation of microplastics and heavy metals in the bottom ash and fly ash from an incineration plant
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Researchers examined fly ash, bottom ash, and surface soil from a municipal solid waste incinerator for microplastics and heavy metals, finding that incineration did not completely eliminate plastics — with fibers persisting in fly ash — and that fly ash heavy metal concentrations exceeded safety thresholds in several categories.
The content of (micro)plastics and heavy metals were investigated in the fly ash, bottom ash and surface soil samples from a municipal solid waste incinerate plant. The abundance of microplastics was 23, 171, and 86 particles/kg dw, respectively. The type of microplastics in fly ash was fiber, and the main type in bottom ash and soil samples was fragment (43.0% and 29.3%), followed by film (26.3% and 25.0%), foam (13.0% and 25.1%), and fiber (17.7% and 20.7%). Most of the microplastics had obvious tearing marks, with the protrusions and scratches on their surfaces. Several types of heavy metals such as Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb were adsorbed on the surface of microplastics. Additionally, the column test demonstrated that the microplastics and heavy metals in the bottom ash can be significantly dissolved out under the impact of external precipitation. Results also indicated that acid rain precipitation easily dissolved heavy metals into the water environment from the bottom ash without special treatment or protection. This paper investigated the combined migration of microplastics and heavy metals from the bottom ash, which can provide theoretical basis for further study of properly treating the bottom ash and exploring the environmental behavior.
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Researchers extracted microplastics from the bottom ash of 17 different types of incinerators and identified them by micro-FTIR spectroscopy, demonstrating that incineration does not fully destroy plastic waste and that unburned microplastics persist in ash residues.
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Researchers sampled ash from two municipal solid waste incinerators in Iran over one year, finding microplastics present even after incineration. This indicates that current incineration practices do not fully eliminate microplastics and that incinerator ash may be a source of plastic pollution if applied to land or landfilled.
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Researchers examined microplastic concentrations and types in ash residues from small-town municipal solid waste pyrolysis incineration plants in southern China. They found abundant microplastics in the ash and surrounding soils, suggesting pyrolysis does not completely destroy microplastics and residues can contaminate nearby environments.
Characteristics of microplastics in municipal solid waste incineration ash in South Korea.
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Even burning your trash doesn't fully get rid of plastic. Scientists studying 18 waste incineration plants in South Korea found that microplastics don't just disappear when plastic waste is burned—they survive in the leftover ash, with the amount varying based on which burning method was used. Since this ash often ends up in landfills or building materials, this research helps identify which incineration methods best minimize microplastic pollution getting back into our environment.
Characteristics of Microplastics in Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Ash in South Korea
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Burning trash doesn't fully destroy plastic, researchers found that leftover ash from South Korean waste incineration plants still contains surprisingly large amounts of microplastics, with the exact amount depending on the burning method used. This matters because that ash often gets reused in construction materials or sent to landfills, meaning these tiny plastic particles could still end up back in our environment (and potentially our bodies) even after the trash is supposedly "burned away."
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