Wet oxidation technology can significantly reduce both microplastics and nanoplastics

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Chemical Engineering
• Materials Science

Background:

• Resource recovery from biomass waste faces challenges in simultaneously removing micro-/nano-plastics and preserving organic resources.
• Wet oxidation is a promising technology for organic waste valorization via thermal hydrolysis and oxidation.
• Hypothesis: Wet oxidation may degrade microplastics under oxygen and high temperatures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify microplastics and nanoplastics in an industrial-scale wet oxidation reactor.
• To assess the effectiveness of wet oxidation in removing microplastics and nanoplastics from biomass waste.
• To evaluate the impact of wet oxidation on organic resource preservation.

Main Methods:

• Quantification of microplastics and nanoplastics within an industrial-scale wet oxidation reactor.
• Analysis of changes in plastic size, mass, shape, and polymer types post-treatment.
• Assessment of organic resource recovery alongside plastic degradation.

Main Results:

• Wet oxidation significantly reduced the size and mass of individual microplastics.
• Total mass concentration of microplastics and nanoplastics decreased by 94.8% to 98.6%.
• Complete removal of fibers, clusters, polypropylene (PP), and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) was observed.

Conclusions:

• Wet oxidation technology is highly effective in removing microplastics and nanoplastics from biomass waste.
• This process enables simultaneous plastic pollution mitigation and organic resource recovery.
• Wet oxidation offers a viable solution for sustainable waste valorization.