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Effect of microplastics on greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions during aerobic composting
Summary
Adding polyethylene, PVC, or biodegradable PHA microplastics to composting manure altered greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions, with PE and PHA increasing methane and ammonia while PVC reduced them. All three types of microplastics reduced compost quality and nitrogen content, raising concerns about plastic contamination in organic waste recycling.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) microplastics on greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions during 60 days composting. PE, PVC and PHA microplastics were respectively mixed with the cow manure; and a treatment without microplastics was used as the control. Compared to the control, PE and PVC inhibited organic matter degradation. Conversely, PHA accelerated temperature increases and organic matter degradation. Meanwhile, PE and PHA aggravated CH and NH emissions by 7.9-9.1% and 20.9-33.9%, respectively. PVC decreased CH and NH emissions by 6.6% and 30.4%, respectively. Additionally, the NO emissions of the PE and PVC treatments were higher than those of the control while PHA decreased NO emissions by 11.8%. Furthermore, PE, PVC and PHA microplastics reduced the NO-N contents and compost maturity. The results indicated that microplastics reduced compost quality while the effects of microplastics on greenhouse gases and ammonia emissions were related to their sources.