Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Agricultural Waste Management for Food Security and Sustainability

This review examines how agricultural waste, including crop residues, animal manure, and food processing by-products, can be transformed into valuable resources through composting, biogas production, and biochar application. The authors highlight that new technologies like AI and IoT are helping optimize these recycling processes. The findings are relevant to microplastic concerns because improper agricultural waste management contributes to soil and water pollution, including plastic contamination from fertilizer coatings and mulch films.

2025 IntechOpen eBooks 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Lignocellulosic Agricultural Waste Valorization to Obtain Valuable Products: An Overview

This review covers methods for turning agricultural plant waste into valuable products like biofuels, bioplastics, and animal feed. While not directly about microplastics, it is relevant because developing bioplastics from plant waste could reduce dependence on petroleum-based plastics that break down into microplastics. These sustainable alternatives could help decrease the amount of microplastic pollution entering the environment and food chain.

2023 Recycling 246 citations
Article Tier 2

Sustainable energy from waste organic matters via efficient microbial processes

This review examined the potential for converting waste organic matter, including microplastics, from water and soil sources into sustainable energy through microbial processes. Researchers discussed how anaerobic digestion and other wastewater treatment technologies can help address the environmental challenge of organic waste while producing useful bioenergy and other primary metabolites.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 136 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial Degradation of Plastics

This review examines microbial degradation of plastics in the environment, discussing how environmental breakdown of plastics generates microplastic particles that accumulate in plants and animals and cause metabolic disruptions, while exploring the potential of microorganisms to break down plastic polymers.

2023 5 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 40 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Agricultural Soils: An Emerging Threat to Soil Health, Microbial Ecology, Crop Productivity, and Food Safety

This review examines how microplastics accumulate in agricultural soils from sources like plastic mulch, sewage sludge, and atmospheric deposition. Researchers found that these particles can disrupt soil microbial communities, harm plant health, and potentially enter the human food chain. The study highlights the urgent need for mitigation strategies to address this growing but often overlooked form of pollution in farmland.

2025 International Journal of Plant & Soil Science 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Incarnation of bioplastics: recuperation of plastic pollution

This review explored bioplastics as eco-friendly alternatives to petroleum-based plastics, examining their production from agricultural and kitchen waste products and their potential for microbial decomposition to help reduce plastic pollution.

2021 International Journal of Environmental & Analytical Chemistry 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Marine Environmental Plastic Pollution: Mitigation by Microorganism Degradation and Recycling Valorization

This review examines how microorganisms can degrade marine plastic pollution through enzymatic processes and how recycling technologies can recover value from plastic waste. Researchers surveyed various microbial species capable of breaking down common plastics and assessed the effectiveness of different recycling approaches. The study suggests that combining biological degradation with improved recycling infrastructure could help address the growing crisis of ocean plastic pollution.

2020 Frontiers in Marine Science 222 citations
Article Tier 2

Agricultural Plastic Waste Management

This article describes a European research project on recycling agricultural plastic waste including mulch films, packaging, and greenhouse covers, which are significant sources of microplastic contamination in farmland soils. The project developed innovative biodegradation routes as an alternative to landfill disposal.

2023 International Journal of Environmental Engineering and Development 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic Pollution in Agriculture as a Threat to Food Security, the Ecosystem, and the Environment: An Overview

This review examines how plastic products used in agriculture -- from mulch films to greenhouse covers -- contribute to microplastic pollution in soil, water, and crops. While plastics help boost crop production and food quality, their breakdown releases microplastics that can be taken up by plants and enter the food chain. The paper discusses strategies to reduce plastic pollution in farming, which is important because agricultural microplastics represent a direct pathway to human dietary exposure.

2024 Agronomy 177 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in composts, digestates, and food wastes: A review

This review examines how food waste composting and recycling processes can introduce microplastics into agricultural soil. When food waste mixed with plastic packaging is composted or processed through anaerobic digestion, microplastic fragments can end up in the soil amendments spread on farmland. The findings highlight an overlooked pathway by which microplastics enter the food chain, as crops grown in contaminated compost may absorb or accumulate plastic particles.

2023 Journal of Environmental Quality 87 citations
Article Tier 2

Activities of Microplastics (MPs) in Agricultural Soil: A Review of MPs Pollution from the Perspective of Agricultural Ecosystems

This review summarizes the origins, migration, and fate of microplastics in agricultural soil ecosystems, identifying plastic mulch film, irrigation water, and organic fertilizers as major sources. The study highlights that microplastic accumulation in farmland can affect soil structure, microbial communities, and crop growth, with potential implications for food safety through the terrestrial food chain.

2022 Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 210 citations
Article Tier 2

A comprehensive review of food waste valorization for the sustainable management of global food waste

This review examines methods for turning food waste into valuable products as part of sustainable waste management. While not directly about microplastics, the topic is relevant because food waste and plastic waste are often mixed together in waste streams, and food packaging is a major source of microplastic contamination. Better food waste management could help reduce the spread of microplastics that often accompany food waste into the environment.

2023 Sustainable Food Technology 168 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic waste as a novel substrate for industrial biotechnology

This paper reviewed the potential of plastic waste as a novel substrate for industrial biotechnology, arguing that plastic polymers could serve as feedstocks for microbial processes that generate value-added chemicals or fuels.

2015 Microbial Biotechnology 181 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial Degradation and Valorization of Plastic Wastes

This review covers recent advances in microbial and enzymatic degradation of synthetic plastic wastes, summarizing the microorganisms and enzymes capable of attacking different polymer types and assessing the prospects for biological plastic waste treatment at scale.

2020 Frontiers in Microbiology 551 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics accumulation in agricultural soil: Evidence for the presence, potential effects, extraction, and current bioremediation approaches

This review examines the accumulation of microplastics in agricultural soils from sources like plastic mulching and irrigation, discussing their effects on soil properties and crop growth, along with current bioremediation approaches for removing soil microplastics.

2022 Journal of Applied Biology & Biotechnology 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Agriculture- a Review

This review examines the growing presence of microplastics in agricultural environments, covering their sources from plastic mulch films and irrigation water, their effects on soil health and crop quality, and the implications for food safety and sustainable agriculture.

2025 International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research
Article Tier 2

Plastic waste impact and biotechnology: Exploring polymer degradation, microbial role, and sustainable development implications

Researchers reviewed how microorganisms and their enzymes can break down different types of plastic waste through both aerobic (oxygen-using) and anaerobic (oxygen-free) pathways. The review highlights biotechnological tools like genetic modification that could accelerate plastic biodegradation, supporting a shift toward a circular economy.

2023 Bioresource Technology Reports 86 citations
Article Tier 2

Towards a Sustainable Future: Advancing an Integrated Approach for the Recycling and Valorization of Agricultural Plastics

This review surveys current methods for recycling and valorizing agricultural plastics—films, mulches, and greenhouse covers—highlighting that inadequate end-of-life management leads to soil and water contamination and eventual microplastic formation. A more integrated, circular approach to agricultural plastic design and disposal is needed to prevent these materials from fragmenting into persistent environmental pollutants.

2023 Polymers 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Significance of Microplastics in Agricultural Soil

This review examines the significance of microplastic contamination in agricultural soils, estimating it contributes approximately 20% of total plastic pollution in terrestrial ecosystems. Microplastics enter farmland through irrigation, mulch, and sewage sludge, and can be transported deeper into soil by plant roots and soil organisms. The accumulation of microplastics in agricultural land poses risks to soil health and the food grown in it.

2023 Journal of Agronomy Technology and Engineering Management (JATEM) 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in agricultural soils: sources, impacts, and mitigation strategies

This review summarizes how microplastics enter agricultural soils through wastewater irrigation, plastic mulch breakdown, and atmospheric deposition, where they alter soil structure, microbial communities, and water retention. The particles can also carry heavy metals and organic pollutants into the food chain, threatening both crop productivity and human health, making it important to reduce plastic use in farming and improve waste management.

2025 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic Mulch‐Derived Microplastics in Agricultural Soil Systems

This review examines how plastic mulch films widely used in agriculture degrade via photodegradation, chemical processes, and microbial activity to form microplastics, and discusses how these microplastics affect soil properties, plant growth, soil microbiomes, and broader agricultural ecosystem health.

2023 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial biotechnology addressing the plastic waste disaster

This review covers how microbial biotechnology can help address plastic pollution, from engineering microorganisms to degrade plastics to developing biodegradable alternatives. Biological approaches to plastic management could help reduce the global accumulation of microplastics.

2017 Microbial Biotechnology 89 citations
Article Tier 2

Waste-Derived Fertilizers: Conversion Technologies, Circular Bioeconomy Perspectives and Agronomic Value

This review examined technologies for converting organic wastes (manure, food residues, sewage sludge, combustion by-products) into fertilizers, evaluating biological, thermal, and chemical processes. The authors noted that waste-derived fertilizers can introduce microplastics and other contaminants into agricultural soils and called for better characterization of these inputs.

2025 Preprints.org 4 citations