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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Organics Recycling Tradeoffs: Biogas Potential and Microplastic Content of Mechanically Depackaged Food Waste
ClearOccurrence of macroplastics and microplastics in biogenic waste digestate: Effects of depackaging at source and dewatering process
Researchers investigated plastic debris in digestate from anaerobic digestion of biogenic waste, finding that both preprocessing and dewatering steps significantly influence the quantity of macroplastics and microplastics in the resulting material used as a soil conditioner.
The Effect of Microplastics Exposure on Anaerobic Digestion of Food Waste: A Review
This review examines how microplastics present in food waste affect the anaerobic digestion process used to convert organic waste into methane. Researchers found that the physical and chemical properties of microplastics, including type, size, and concentration, can impair methane production, disrupt microbial communities, and destabilize the digestion system. The study highlights mechanisms such as chemical leaching, enzyme interference, and oxidative stress through which microplastics hinder the waste-to-energy conversion process.
Separation and Characterization of Plastic Waste Packaging Contaminated with Food Residues
This paper is not directly about microplastic pollution impacts — it develops a processing technology to separate food residues from plastic packaging waste, producing a fraction of mixed microplastics as a byproduct, with the primary aim of improving plastic recyclability.
Overcoming micro/nanoplastics-induced inhibition in anaerobic digestion: Advances in remediation techniques
This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics inhibit anaerobic digestion performance — reducing biogas yield and organic removal — and surveys remediation strategies including physical, chemical, and biological approaches to overcome their disruptive effects in waste treatment systems.
Impact of micro-nanoplastics on biochemical phases of anaerobic digestion in sewage sludge treatment: mechanistic insights and future prospects
Micro- and nanoplastics were found to disrupt the biochemical phases of anaerobic digestion, affecting the efficiency of the biological process used to treat organic waste. Understanding these impacts is important because anaerobic digestion is a common wastewater and sludge treatment method that may both receive and process microplastic-contaminated materials.
The Potential of Ozonation to Reduce Impact of Waste Sludge-Entrapped Microplastics to Biogas Production
Wastewater treatment plants concentrate microplastics from sewage into the resulting sludge, and this study tested whether ozonation could reduce the harm those microplastics cause during anaerobic digestion used to produce biogas. The findings showed that PET and polypropylene microplastics alter methane yields from sludge digestion in concentration-dependent ways, and that ozone pretreatment partially mitigates the inhibition caused by polypropylene — though the interactions are complex and require further optimization before widespread use.
Comprehensive meta-analysis reveals the impact of non-biodegradable plastic pollution on methane production in anaerobic digestion
This meta-analysis found that microplastics and nanoplastics interfere with anaerobic digestion, a process used to treat organic waste and produce methane. Smaller nanoplastics had a greater impact, suggesting that plastic contamination in waste could reduce the efficiency of this important waste treatment and energy recovery method.
Pretreatment as a Microplastics Generator during Household Biogenic Waste Treatment
Mechanical pretreatment of household biogenic waste generates substantial quantities of microplastics — up to 33,000 billion particles annually in the feedstock fed to anaerobic digesters in the studied facilities — primarily from crushers, shredders, and biohydrolysis reactors. The study found that pre-sorting and depackaging waste at the household level before collection can reduce microplastic generation by up to 72%, highlighting source separation as a critical intervention point for preventing microplastic contamination of compost and digestate applied to farmland.
Systematic study of microplastics on methane production in anaerobic digestion: Performance and microbial response
Microplastics are increasingly found in wastewater treatment systems, and this study systematically examined how different types, concentrations, and sizes of microplastics affect the anaerobic digestion process used to break down sewage sludge and generate biogas. Polyethylene microplastics were found to inhibit methane production, with finer particles and higher concentrations causing greater disruption to the microbial communities driving digestion. The findings matter because microplastics in sewage sludge can impair the treatment process and also end up spread on agricultural land when sludge is used as fertilizer.
Fate of microplastics in a centralized biogas plant treating mainly sewage sludge
Researchers tracked the fate of microplastics through a centralized biogas plant treating sewage sludge, examining how anaerobic digestion and subsequent dewatering partition microplastics between solid and liquid digestate fractions. The study informs efforts to develop safer digestate-based recycled fertilizers that minimize microplastic introduction to agricultural soils, where 20-55% of microplastics entering wastewater treatment plants are estimated to end up in sludge.
Microplastics divert carbon flow in anaerobic digestion: a meta-analysis reveals product-specific effects
Researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 55 studies and found that microplastics do not simply inhibit anaerobic digestion but redirect carbon flow within it — suppressing methane production while boosting volatile fatty acid accumulation — with the direction and magnitude of effects determined by polymer type, concentration, size, and temperature.
Two Birds with One Stone: Bioplastics and Food Waste Anaerobic Co-Digestion
Researchers investigated anaerobic co-digestion of bioplastics with food waste, finding that certain bioplastics can be simultaneously degraded while boosting biogas yields, supporting circular economy goals by turning both waste streams into renewable energy.
Microplastics generation and concentration during mechanical-biological treatment of mixed municipal solid waste
Researchers found that mechanical-biological treatment of mixed municipal solid waste generates and concentrates microplastics across multiple processing stages, with the stabilized organic output containing significant microplastic loads — raising concerns about the use of this material as compost or soil amendment.
Revealing the Mechanisms of Polyethylene Microplastics Affecting Anaerobic Digestion of Waste Activated Sludge
Researchers studied how polyethylene microplastics affect the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge, a common wastewater treatment process. They found that higher concentrations of microplastics significantly reduced methane production by disrupting microbial communities and enzyme activities essential for digestion. The study reveals that microplastic contamination in wastewater systems can undermine the efficiency of sludge treatment and biogas generation.
Distribution characteristics of microplastics in typical organic solid wastes and their biologically treated products
Researchers extracted and characterized microplastics from food waste, livestock manure, sludge, and their composted or digested products, finding MPs in all organic waste types with concentrations varying by matrix. The study highlights organic waste management pathways as an understudied route for microplastic transfer to agricultural soils.
Digestate Quality Originating from Kitchen Waste
This review examines how plastic contaminants — including conventional microplastics and supposedly biodegradable bioplastics — affect the quality of digestate produced from kitchen waste in anaerobic digestion. Key findings are that most bioplastics do not reliably degrade in anaerobic conditions, that microplastics are difficult to identify and measure in food waste inputs, and that contaminated digestate applied to agricultural land becomes a vector for spreading microplastics into soil. The paper highlights a critical but overlooked gap between the promises of 'biodegradable' plastics and their real-world performance.
A review on mechanistic understanding of microplastic pollution on the performance of anaerobic digestion
This review examines how microplastic contamination affects anaerobic digestion, a process used to convert organic waste into biogas. Researchers found that microplastics can harm the microbial communities essential to this process through direct contact, leaching of toxic chemicals, and generating harmful reactive oxygen species. The findings raise concerns that microplastic pollution could reduce the efficiency of waste treatment systems and contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance genes.
Effects of co-substrates’ mixing ratios and loading rate variations on food and agricultural wastes’ anaerobic co-digestion performance
This study optimized anaerobic co-digestion of food and agricultural waste to produce biogas, exploring how mixing ratios and loading rates affect performance. Diverting organic waste to bioenergy reduces the fraction of municipal waste that enters landfills and ultimately contributes to microplastic generation.
Effect of microplastic on anaerobic digestion of wasted activated sludge
This study investigated how varying doses of microplastics affect methane production during anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge, testing concentrations from 0 to 100,000 particles per gram. Higher microplastic doses progressively inhibited methane production, suggesting that high microplastic loads in wastewater treatment sludge can impair biogas recovery.
Effects of Micro(nano)plastics on Anaerobic Digestion and Their Influencing Mechanisms
This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics from organic waste streams affect anaerobic digestion (AD) performance, covering impacts on methane production, microbial community structure, and enzyme activity. It identifies plastic polymer type and concentration as key variables determining whether MPs stimulate or inhibit digestion processes.
Microplastics identification and quantification in the composted Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste
Researchers quantified microplastics in composted organic municipal solid waste from five facilities, finding contamination levels that raise concerns about compost quality and the potential transfer of microplastics to agricultural soils through organic waste recycling.
Distribution of microplastics and phthalic acid esters during dry anaerobic digestion of food waste and potential microbial degradation analysis
Researchers analyzed microplastic and phthalic acid ester contamination throughout the dry anaerobic digestion process of food waste at an industrial scale in China. The study found that both contaminants reached their highest levels during the biogas residue extrusion stage, and while plastic-degrading microorganisms were present, the digestion process alone could not fully resolve the contamination problem.
Removal Potential of Microplastics in Organic Solid Wastes via Biological Treatment Approaches
This review examines biological treatment approaches — including composting, anaerobic digestion, and vermicomposting — for removing microplastics from organic solid wastes, finding that while these methods can reduce microplastic abundance, significant knowledge gaps remain about fragmentation and fate during treatment.
Plastics and persistent chemical contaminants in food waste: challenges for the circular economy
Researchers reviewed the presence of microplastics, PFAS, flame retardants, and phthalates in food waste, finding contamination levels up to 300,000 particles per kilogram. The study highlights that current food waste valorization methods seldom remove these persistent contaminants effectively, raising concerns about recycling food waste into compost or other products without proper monitoring.