Microplastic Remediation in Aquatic Environment

Abstract

Since microplastics are persistent and bioaccumulative in water, they impose serious environmental hazards. Efficient removal strategies are needed to mitigate their impact. In this chapter, the efficacy of biological degradation by enzyme activity and physical filtration, such as membrane, disk, and sand filtration, is considered. For MPs in the micrometer range, membrane filtration, especially ultrafiltration and nanofiltration, showed excellent removal efficiencies, but disk and sand filtration provided less expensive substitutes for larger particles. Although useful, these processes eventually develop clogging problems and produce secondary waste. On the other hand, by breaking down MPs into biodegradable products, enzymatic degradation by bacterial, fungal, and algal enzymes provides a more sustainable solution. PETase and MHETase are bacterial enzymes. Pseudomonas sp. and Ideonella sakaiensis are some examples of bacteria that enable polymer degradation. Fungal cultures such as Aspergillus and Fusarium release hydrolases for polymer degradation. Oxidative enzymes released by algae promote biodegradation. The limitations and advantages of each process are discussed in this chapter without direct comparison. Enzymatic processes provide long-term degradation by breaking down polymers into biodegradable components, while filtration provides immediate MP removal but can cause secondary waste generation and clogging. Since scalability is a function of further reactor design and enzyme activity, combining these processes offers a promising approach to long-term MP reduction. © 2025 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.