How Can We Reduce Microplastic Pollution (7 tips)

Ever wondered where this huge amount of plastic you see around goes? It has been studied that it can stay in the environment for up to 1000 years before it is completely decomposed. Due to the excessive use, there’s a growing concern of Microplastic pollution in today’s world.

Here are some information about what is microplastic pollution and how to reduce it from our environment.

What Is Microplastic?

The term ‘Microplastic’ was first introduced by a marine biologist Richard Thompson, in 2004. According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Microplastic is any type of plastic having a size of less than 5mm.

Microplastic

It is estimated that oceans have around 15-51 trillion microplastic pieces that come from a variety of sources including sewage treatment plants, paper and packaging industry, plastic water bottles, fishing, tourism, agriculture, illegal dumping, cosmetic industry, and clothing manufacturing.

Interview with Professor Richard about Microplastics

Categories Of Microplastics

  • Primary microplastics: Plastics fragments that are already 5mm or less before they enter the environment
  • Secondary microplastics: Degraded or fragmented particles of large plastic products

Microplastic pollution has gained attention mainly because of the adverse potential impacts associated with it.

Categories of Microplastics

How Can We Reduce Microplastic Pollution?

Many pieces of research are being carried out to combat this alarming situation. Here are some ways we can help Earth cleanse out the plastic waste.

1. Convert plastics to energy

Instead of dumping it in landfills, plastic can be incinerated and used as an energy source. Plastics are hydrocarbons that are made from petroleum, and they can be converted back to liquid fuel. Researchers have typically used a process called pyrolysis to do this, which requires heating the plastics at a high temperature. More about that in this article.

2. Reuse and recycle plastics

Reusing plastics is a brilliant step to living a zero waste lifestyle.

While converting it to energy is a brilliant idea,  recycling plastic is easier. But to recycle it, we need to make it from specific materials that are easy to be recycled.

One such example of these materials is polyethylene terephthalate. It is a transparent material usually used in plastic bottles. It is easier to recycle a clear or transparent plastic than a colored one. But plastic still makes its way into water bodies because not all plastic produced can be reused or recycled.

3. Improve Biodegradation

Numerous microorganisms are found to potentially biodegrade, consume, and decompose microplastics using certain enzymes. These biodegraded plastics can be used as a source of carbon.

Using microbes in wastewater treatment plants is a good option as the number of microplastics entering the environment would decrease.

4. Raise Awareness

The small scale yet most important solution is creating awareness among the masses regarding the potential effects of plastic pollution. This can be done through campaigns, workshops and mass media especially targeting urban environments.

5. Ban Single-Use Plastic

Cutting the flow of plastics is key. More than sixty countries including China, Japan, UK, and the USA have banned single-use plastics.

Similarly, at the 4th UN Environment Assembly held in 2019, ministries of 157 countries committed to reducing the production of single-use plastic by the year 2030.

6. Improve Economic Policies

National and international economic policies play a crucial role in sustainable development. Therefore governments have responsibilities to develop policies that:

  • Identify and quantify Microplastic sources
  • Target zero-waste strategy
  • Invest in plastic recycling
  • Link with the international policies and programs
  • Encourage researchers for innovations and advancements aiming at sustainable practices

7. Build more wastewater treatment plants

Eliminating microplastics from the effluent before it enters the water body is important. Physical and biological treatment processes including sedimentation, flotation, filtration, and flocculation have been reported to effectively remove a major portion of microplastics from the waste stream.

84% of microplastics were removed by these processes in an Italian wastewater treatment plant.

In addition, some advanced technologies also enhance microplastics removal. For instance, treatment options like dissolved air flotation, membrane bioreactors, and rapid sand filters can remove more than 95% microplastics from effluent.

8. Invest more in Research And Innovations

Science is all about innovations and advancements. There’s a dire need for research related to Microplastic pollution removal options.

Here are two innovative ideas that have addressed this issue in an effective way:

The “Banana” Method

The name of this specially designed apparatus is because of its distinctive shape. It was developed by two students of the Netherland in 2019 in order to eliminate microplastics from entering water bodies. It has a front wall that stops large litter to enter and clog the system.

The smaller waste particles are carried in by the flowing water and enter the waste storage containers attached to the wall.

Water cannot flow back and the microplastics are stored in these bags. Once these bags are filled, they are replaced with new ones. It is a tested, validated, and proven system under different circumstances.

Magnetic Fluid

An 18-year old boy topped Google Science Fair with his incredible creation of a magnetic fluid inspired by NASA’s magnetic rocket fuel. He suspended magnate powder in vegetable oil and injected this fluid in Microplastic contaminated water.

The solution turned black and when a magnet was placed inside the container, it soaked up all the fluid including most of the microplastics. This process has proven to be reducing microplastics by up to 88%.

Microplastic

Final thoughts

Microplastic pollution is a global problem and needs immediate attention. study to fill the research gaps, and develop policies based on strategic environmental assessment.

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